Originally published here.

The line between hypervisibility and invisibility appears to be blurred for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women in the workplace due to their race and gendered status (Lander and Santoro 2017). The intersection of race and gender exposes many BAME women to discrimination, structural inequalities, and the dynamics of tokenism, which can be a cause of intense job dissatisfaction (Stroshine and Brandl 2011). It is often the case that discussions on the economic integration of immigrants focus mainly on how the socioeconomic dynamics of the host country can limit them to certain labour market sectors. While this is a key area that must be discussed, "the interaction between the internal cultural and social differences and the wider structural and ideological processes of the country of residence" must also be interrogated (Anthias 1992: viii).

Such deep exploration contributes to the examination of migrant women's experiences of the intersection of gender, identity, and social mobility within the labour market and their personal lives. In this paper, based on individual accounts and drawing on intersectionality as an analytical framework (Crenshaw 1989; Bowleg 2012; Collins and Bilge 2020), I examine the multiple and complex interlocking structural inequalities suffered by immigrant women. This paper also presents how personal narratives can illuminate often hidden complexities in the workplace and labour market at large. Based on three main themes, deskilling and downward mobility, settling for BBC 2 jobs, and confronting discrimination in skilled employment, I examine the different ways migrant women engage with their stories about negotiating the labour market, which lay bare some of the limits and gaps between policies and practices in the post-industrial labour market.

I present how the different ways they engage with narratives of their experiences in the workplace is very telling of the far-reaching impact their experiences have on their self-identity and well-being. As a feminist researcher, and one whose life is also marked by migration experiences, I go beyond examining the process of deskilling to exploring how participants make sense of their experiences, the impact on their lives, and their present sense of identity.

This paper is a  part of my doctoral thesis, a broader research on the immigration and  adaptation narratives of professional Nigerian women in the UK.  Providing a background to  explore migrant women’s accounts of exclusions and social vulnerabilities in the labour market,  this paper unpacks some of the gender-sensitive issues which contribute to restricting women to  lower positions in the labour market (Boyd and Grieco 2003). Drawing on the concept of  intersectionality, I explore my participants’ accounts of their connection between work and self-identity, unpacking the complex connection between race, class, and gender, and how these shape  (Black) women’s experiences in the UK labour market. 

 Many of my participants’ narratives were marked by the level of disillusionment and  disappointment they experienced at the realisation of the huge gap between their expectations and the realities of the UK labour market. Not only did they describe the professional setbacks they suffered as unexpected, but their different constructions of their present identities are also largely  coloured by expressions of pain and regret. Their stories are particularly intense as many of them  highlight a disjunction between their hope and their present realities. This paper is a  part of my doctoral thesis, a broader research on the immigration and  adaptation narratives of professional Nigerian women in the UK.  Providing a background to  explore migrant women’s accounts of exclusions and social vulnerabilities in the labour market,  this paper unpacks some of the gender-sensitive issues which contribute to restricting women to  lower positions in the labour market (Boyd and Grieco 2003). Drawing on the concept of  intersectionality, I explore my participants’ accounts of their connection between work and self-identity, unpacking the complex connection between race, class, and gender, and how these shape (Black) women’s experiences in the UK labour market. 

 Many of my participants’ narratives were marked by the level of disillusionment and disappointment they experienced at the realisation of the huge gap between their expectations and the realities of the UK labour market. Not only did they describe the professional setbacks they  suffered as unexpected, but their different constructions of their present identities are also largely  coloured by expressions of pain and regret. Their stories are particularly intense as many of them  highlight a disjunction between their hope and their present realities. This paper is a  part of my doctoral thesis, a broader research on the immigration and adaptation narratives of professional Nigerian women in the UK.  Providing a background to explore migrant women’s accounts of exclusions and social vulnerabilities in the labour market, this paper unpacks some of the gender-sensitive issues which contribute to restricting women to lower positions in the labour market (Boyd and Grieco 2003). Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, I explore my participants’ accounts of their connection between work and self-identity, unpacking the complex connection between race, class, and gender, and how these shape (Black) women’s experiences in the UK labour market. 

 Many of my participants’ narratives were marked by the level of disillusionment and disappointment they experienced at the realisation of the huge gap between their expectations and the realities of the UK labour market. Not only did they describe the professional setbacks they suffered as unexpected, but their different constructions of their present identities are also largely coloured by expressions of pain and regret. Their stories are particularly intense as many of them highlight a disjunction between their hope and their present realities.

This paper is a  part of my doctoral thesis, a broader research on the immigration and adaptation narratives of professional Nigerian women in the UK.  Providing a background to explore migrant women’s accounts of exclusions and social vulnerabilities in the labour market, this paper unpacks some of the gender-sensitive issues which contribute to restricting women to lower positions in the labour market (Boyd and Grieco 2003). Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, I explore my participants’ accounts of their connection between work and self-identity, unpacking the complex connection between race, class, and gender, and how these shape (Black) women’s experiences in the UK labour market. 

Many of my participants’ narratives were marked by the level of disillusionment and disappointment they experienced at the realisation of the huge gap between their expectations and the realities of the UK labour market. Not only did they describe the professional setbacks they suffered as unexpected, but their different constructions of their present identities are also largely coloured by expressions of pain and regret. Their stories are particularly intense as many of them highlight a disjunction between their hope and their present realities.

This paper is a  part of my doctoral thesis, a broader research on the immigration and adaptation narratives of professional Nigerian women in the UK.  Providing a background to explore migrant women’s accounts of exclusions and social vulnerabilities in the labour market, this paper unpacks some of the gender-sensitive issues which contribute to restricting women to lower positions in the labour market (Boyd and Grieco 2003). Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, I explore my participants’ accounts of their connection between work and self-identity, unpacking the complex connection between race, class, and gender, and how these shape (Black) women’s experiences in the UK labour market.  

Many of my participants’ narratives were marked by the level of disillusionment and disappointment they experienced at the realisation of the huge gap between their expectations and the realities of the UK labour market. Not only did they describe the professional setbacks they suffered as unexpected, but their different constructions of their present identities are also largely coloured by expressions of pain and regret. Their stories are particularly intense as many of them highlight a disjunction between their hope and their present realities.

In this paper, I set out to present my participants’ nuanced ways of presenting constructions of their present identities as Black women and migrant workers in the UK. Again, for many of them, their narratives are marked with an unintended return to appreciating their pre-migratory lives as they retrospectively compare it with their present lives. Telling stories of their labour market experiences in the UK was an opportunity for them to construct and reconstruct their understanding of themselves and their present complex identities shaped by experiences of exclusion, racism, sexism, alienation, isolation, and downward mobility. These interlocking forms of marginalization, heightened by unfair policies, inform my participants’ construction of who they are and what they have become in the UK. 

In addition to identifying the interplay of some oppressing factors affecting professional immigrant women, this paper presents how participants “storied” their experiences and the impact it has on their self-construction.  They presented their reflexive selves as they retrospectively reformulated their immediate past stories from the perspective of their present social circumstances. Internalizing the socio-cultural situation in which they find themselves, they draw on themes of shame, loss of identity, pain, despair, and disillusionment to make sense of the impact of the multiple challenges that mark their post-migration experiences.

In this paper, I set out to present my participants’ nuanced ways of presenting constructions of their present identities as Black women and migrant workers in the UK. Again, for many of them, their narratives are marked with an unintended return to appreciating their pre-migratory lives as they retrospectively compare it with their present lives. Telling stories of their labour market experiences in the UK was an opportunity for them to construct and reconstruct their understanding of themselves and their present complex identities shaped by experiences of exclusion, racism, sexism, alienation, isolation, and downward mobility. These interlocking forms of marginalization, heightened by unfair policies, inform my participants’ construction of who they are and what they have become in the UK.  

In addition to identifying the interplay of some oppressing factors affecting professional immigrant women, this paper presents how participants “storied” their experiences and the impact it has on their self-construction.  They presented their reflexive selves as they retrospectively reformulated their immediate past stories from the perspective of their present social circumstances. Internalizing the socio-cultural situation in which they find themselves, they draw on themes of shame, loss of identity, pain, despair, and disillusionment to make sense of the impact of the multiple challenges that mark their post-migration experiences.

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