1. Home
  2. Students
  3. Chapter 21 - “Learning the Ropes” as a Foreign Worker

Chapter 21 - “Learning the Ropes” as a Foreign Worker

Sarah Steimel

Synopsis

Nia and Ben, refugees from Sudan who have resettled in the United States, struggle to become integrated into the world of work in their new homes. Nia finds it difficult to find work, given that she has little knowledge of the local culture broadly and the local work culture specifically. Ben has found work but in a role “below” his educational credentials and job experience. Their friend, Edward, while also from Sudan, has been in the US for 15 years. As a manager in a grocery store, Edward reflects on some of the stereotypes international employees have faced in his own company as they have tried to integrate into organizational life.

Keywords: Organizational Socialization, Assimilation, Organizational Encounter, Refugees

Key Takeaways and Take a Stand Form

Key Takeaways

  1. Refugees and other foreign-born workers in the United States may be hampered in their career/job seeking by different anticipatory socialization than that of their American peers.
  2. These differences may be broadly cultural (lack of anticipatory socialization to American ways of dress, American customs for greeting people, etc.) or more specific to organization/job seeking (lack of organizational anticipatory socialization to where to look for work, customs for resumes or cover letters, etc.)
  3. Refugees and other foreign-born workers in the United States may also be hampered in their organizational encounter stage of organizational socialization by stereotypes and misperceptions common in the workplace. Examples include: accented or imperfect English as a sign of lack of intelligence; foreignness as a sign of illegality/undocumented status, and stereotypes from coworkers about the foreign worker’s country(ies) of origin.
  4. Refugees and other foreign-born workers often work “down” in career prestige in the US from where they were in their country(ies) of origin. This dynamic challenges our traditional job/organizational socialization narratives of the linear, upwardly mobile career.
  5. Future research needs to continue to understand how organizational socialization (including anticipatory, entry and assimilation/integration in organizations) can be best fostered for refugees and other foreign-born workers.

Take a Stand Form