You don't always have to fly, sometimes you need to slow down : A qualitative study about how women with immigrant background manage to become leaders in the Swedish labor market despite obstacles they encounter.

Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study is to examine how women with immigrant backgrounds have achieved leading positions in the Swedish labor market. According to previous research, women with immigrant backgrounds face several barriers when seeking a career and achieving leadership positions. Despite that, a few women manage to succeed in their careers to finally become leaders. Therefore, our research focuses on the question: How do women with immigrant backgrounds manage to become leaders in the Swedish labor market despite obstacles they encounter? In order to gain a better understanding, we have also asked the question:  How does it feel to be a female leader with an immigrant background? The informants in the study were women with immigrant backgrounds working as managers in medium-sized organizations in Sweden. An analysis of the empirical data was conducted based on the career theory, Bourdieu's theoretical perspective on field and capital and emotion theory. The results of this study revealed that in addition to equivalent education, the women who participated in the study obtained their positions through informal connections. Moreover, the study suggests that the women informants did not feel that their immigrant backgrounds hindered their career paths, but rather their age and gender. It appears that these results confirm earlier findings which indicated that age and gender play a somewhat significant role in the Swedish labor market