From the margins : Filipina skilled migrants tell their stories : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
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Date
2017
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Massey University
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Abstract
For decades, the Philippine government has sent many of its citizens overseas as part of its labor migration
policy. Filipinos also leave home due to the economic instability, graft and corruption that have plagued the
country post-colonially. When feminized labor demand increased, around the 1990s, the phenomenon of mass
Filipino women migration began and continues to this day. Filipinas living or working overseas are often
ethnically stereotyped as either ‘maids’ or ‘mail order brides.’ The dominant focus of previous research on
Filipina domestic workers and mail order brides has, in some respect, reproduced and reinforced these racial,
sexist and classist stereotypes. This literature has all but neglected the fact that many Filipina migrants are
skilled professionals. Except for the nursing profession, the migration experiences of skilled Filipina
professionals remain invisible in the literature. This study addresses this gap in the literature and creates a space
for the experiences of Filipina professionals living and working in New Zealand to be brought to the fore. I
conducted repeat interviews with seven Filipinas who migrated to New Zealand. The interviews focused on
their migration experiences, how they made sense of their migration, and how they negotiated their identities as
women and as migrants somewhere new. Using a narrative approach, I was guided by feminist and
Sikolohiyang Pilipino research principles that placed the women’s voices and narratives at the center throughout
the whole research process. More specifically, I used Brown and Gilligan’s (1992) voice-centered relational
method to analyze the transcriptions. This method complemented both feminist and Sikolohiyang Pilipino
principles because it allowed the women’s voices to be heard more clearly and provided a sensitivity to the
diverse perspectives that emerged. Although the women were all Filipinas, the diversity across their migrant
experiences ranged from feeling humiliated by participating in menial household tasks, to drawing closer
together as a family, through to feeling proud of being able to accomplish many tasks alone. There were also
commonalities with regard to the physical, social, and professional transitions that they encountered. As a
whole, the women made successful transitions as they assimilated into New Zealand society. These women
were happy about the decision to make New Zealand their home. This research contributes a new narrative to
Filipina migrant experiences that celebrates the stoicism and successes of the Filipina.
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Keywords
Filipinos, Women immigrants, New Zealand, Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Psychology, Women in the professions