“Är det jag - eller mitt ursprung?“ : En kvalitativ intervjustudie om kvinnor med utländsk bakgrund och deras upplevelser i arbetslivet

Sammanfattning

Inclusion is a central concept in working life and is significant for how individuals experience belonging, well-being, and participation. At the same time, prejudice and stereotypical perceptions may affect women's experiences of working life and their opportunities to feel included in the workplace. The aim of this study is to examine how women with foreign backgrounds experience and interpret the ways in which prejudice and stereotypical perceptions are expressed in working life, as well as to analyze how the women perceive their ethnic background to affect their experiences of inclusion in the social contexts of the workplace. As women's own experiences constitute a relatively unexplored topic within sociology, a section on previous research has been included, organized around different themes related to the subject. Previous research has shown, for example, that individuals with foreign backgrounds experience various forms of discrimination in workplaces. The study is based on a qualitative method, in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with women with foreign backgrounds. The empirical material was analyzed through thematic analysis, based on previous research and the study's theoretical framework. The theories used are Goffman's (1963) theory of stigma, Crenshaw's (1989) theory of intersectionality, and Weick's (1995) theory of sensemaking. The results of the study showed that the women experienced prejudice and stereotypical perceptions as being expressed through, for example, treatment by others, social exclusion, and cultural assumptions. The study thereby highlighted how women with foreign backgrounds may interpret and understand their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in working life.