The shifting identity of the professional workforce in Australian organisations : the Indian migrant experience

Most research on cultural diversity in the workplace in Australia has looked at unskilled migrant labor even though the pattern of migration in Australia has changed significantly. Many migrants are now working in management and professional roles. Australian organizations have a culturally diverse workforce, not just in low-wage and low skilled positions, but higher up in the organizational hierarchy, even if cultural minorities generally remain underrepresented at higher levels. To a large extent research on diversity in organizations has centered on the persistence of gender inequality. Relatively few studies deal with the racialized character of many professional workplaces and how racial/ethnic minorities experience ‘emotion work’. This article will critically examine the experience of migration, cultural, and kinship obligations of skilled, professional, Indian migrants to Australia. It focuses on the adjustments and struggles which compel and determine their decisions on settlement and their engagement strategies with Australian society, and whether these factors also play a role in their integration within organizations.