Abstract
This study develops an understanding of the spatialities of the household and workplace by focusing on the post-mobility experiences of highly skilled Arab women living in Finland. These women belong to an ethnic minority and have a dual career, i.e., they have both a professional career at work and a career in taking care of family responsibilities at home. The study calls attention to the importance of family and work as the essential spaces where both opportunities for and barriers against social inclusion exist side by side as these migrant women live in a culturally different society and take part in the competitive labor market. While many studies have dealt with questions of dual-career families from feminist and gender perspectives, this study adopts a relational approach and focuses on the significance of the social spaces of home and work, the importance of micro-individual agency, the meso-structural factors, and the macro-contextual events that affect their dual career between family and work. The study uses a qualitative case study design and these women's narrated life-stories. The research data are collected from semi-structured interviews. The spatiality of work and family life are discussed through an exploratory and interpretive approach. The results of the study underline the necessity of further research on highly skilled ethnic minorities in Finland, as a deeper understanding of their presence in Finnish society and the labor market is required.
