Self-Initiated Expatriation (SIE) and Older Women: Motivations, Experiences and Impacts
type: CreativeWork
description: Since 1893 when New Zealand women were the first in the world to win the right to vote, they have persisted in their groundbreaking ways. New Zealand women have been Prime Ministers, Governor General, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Attorney General. Currently a New Zealand woman is Chief Justice and a former Prime Minister Helen Clarke holds the third highest position at the United Nations. This study continues this trail blazing tradition with a focus on a number of older New Zealand women who have challenged the male norm of continuous and linear careers (Myers, 2011; Sabelis & Schilling, 2013) and the neoliberal expectation of an extended working life (Rudman, 2006). Anecdotal evidence suggests these ‘ordinary’ New Zealand women have effected ‘extraordinary’ life change as a result of exiting their established working lives to undertake self-initiated expatriation (SIE), a period of extended travel and work overseas (Doherty, Richardson, & Thorn, 2013a; Suutari & Brewster, 2000). This study draws on ‘older workers’, ‘population ageing, ‘careers’ and SIE research literatures. Four specific research objectives funnel the enquiry into the SIE phenomenon: the motivations, experiences, and triggers for SIE; the actual SIE work and personal experiences; whether SIE facilitates career and personal development; and whether SIE affords older women an opportunity to reflect on, clarify and enact longer term career and life-path goals. Fundamental to this study is the ontological assumption that the world is open-ended and socially constructed. Subjectivism was core to the research process. Thus, I adopted a reflexive and interpretive methodology and carried out 21 in-depth life story interviews. To ensure the integrity of ‘narrative inquiry’, I developed a five-step analytical framework and present the findings at four levels of analysis in a cycle of storying and re-storying. Firstly, each of the 21 interpretive life stories are documented. Secondly, five int…
abstract: Since 1893 when New Zealand women were the first in the world to win the right to vote, they have persisted in their groundbreaking ways. New Zealand women have been Prime Ministers, Governor General, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Attorney General. Currently a New Zealand woman is Chief Justice and a former Prime Minister Helen Clarke holds the third highest position at the United Nations. This study continues this trail blazing tradition with a focus on a number of older New Zealand women who have challenged the male norm of continuous and linear careers (Myers, 2011; Sabelis & Schilling, 2013) and the neoliberal expectation of an extended working life (Rudman, 2006). Anecdotal evidence suggests these ‘ordinary’ New Zealand women have effected ‘extraordinary’ life change as a result of exiting their established working lives to undertake self-initiated expatriation (SIE), a period of extended travel and work overseas (Doherty, Richardson, & Thorn, 2013a; Suutari & Brewster, 2000). This study draws on ‘older workers’, ‘population ageing, ‘careers’ and SIE research literatures. Four specific research objectives funnel the enquiry into the SIE phenomenon: the motivations, experiences, and triggers for SIE; the actual SIE work and personal experiences; whether SIE facilitates career and personal development; and whether SIE affords older women an opportunity to reflect on, clarify and enact longer term career and life-path goals. Fundamental to this study is the ontological assumption that the world is open-ended and socially constructed. Subjectivism was core to the research process. Thus, I adopted a reflexive and interpretive methodology and carried out 21 in-depth life story interviews. To ensure the integrity of ‘narrative inquiry’, I developed a five-step analytical framework and present the findings at four levels of analysis in a cycle of storying and re-storying. Firstly, each of the 21 interpretive life stories are documented. Secondly, five int…
author: Myers, Barbara
keywords: SIE, Older women, Careers, Adult development
date published: 2016
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:46:06Z
provider: AUT University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: AUT University