Fragile belonging: professional Polish women’s belonging at work

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research continues to emerge on the role of Brexit on migrants’ belonging in Britain, and this article contributes to the scholarship in related ways. The article draws on belonging as an analytical frame to examine how Polish migrant women in professional occupations challenge and negotiate their belonging at work. The article uses qualitative narrative interviews collected pre-Brexit (2015/2016) with Polish women living in Greater Manchester to examine their belonging strategies. Despite these migrant women’s shared whiteness, Europeanness, and professional status, these signifiers do not prevent them from encountering non-belonging. Nonetheless, the women’s narratives show they use various active and complex strategies (ethnicised, classed, and individualized) in their workplaces to conceal, recast and uplift their position to forge belonging. The findings enhance our understanding of workplace belonging processes, including Polish professional women’s strategies during a challenging period. Additionally, they contribute to the development of future workplace policy on belonging research.