Att vara chef med utländsk bakgrund : Butikschefers upplevelse av sin arbetssituation och yrkesroll

Sammanfattning

Previous research has shown that in the last 20 years, there has been discrimination againstindividuals with a foreign background in the Swedish labor market. Statistics illustrate thatpeople with a foreign background have weaker representation than Swedish-born inmanagerial positions. The purpose has been to describe how store managers with a foreignbackground experience their working conditions and professional role in Sweden, to presentstore managers 'perceptions of discrimination in retail and to highlight positive leadershipstories where store managers' foreign backgrounds have been an advantage. Throughsemi-structured interviews, the study sheds light on store managers' experiences of theexistence of discrimination and what it is like to be a manager with a foreign background inSweden. An image emerges that a foreign background often becomes a strength in themanagers' work, where their unique habitus enriches their leadership. At the same time, theSwedish labor market is mediated as formally equal but informally unequal. The storemanagers confirm the previous research in many respects; that discrimination occurs, often inthe recruitment process, due to name selection, that individuals have a linguistic break orthrough informal favoritism that occurs when individuals with a foreign background are notgiven access to network. A perspective of discrimination that has not been discussed inprevious discrimination research has been conveyed; that customers act discriminatorytowards store managers. The results of the study indicate that unequal informal structures insociety and in organizations are expressed when low social and cultural capital throughnetworks and language risks becoming a gatekeeper that hinders career development. Thisstudy has shown that despite laws and regulations on discrimination that have been added inthe last 15 years, inequality is still reproduced in organizations which can be understood asinequality regimes.