title: The influence of expatriation on self-concept and identity: Spanish self-initiated expatriate and repatriate nurses in Germany
Creators: name: Rosa Gonzalez, Juan Miguel
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Germany
subject: self-initiated expatriate (SIE) nurses
subject: Spanish
subject: COVID-19 pandemic
subject: host country language (HCL)
subject: motivation
subject: unemployment
subject: psychological burden
subject: language
subject: identity

description: This research program explores the experiences of Spanish self-initiated expatriate (SIE) nurses in Germany and repatriated from Germany, aiming to understand how they perceive the influence of expatriation on their self-concept and identity. Expatriation usually implies a context of decreased sources of social validation, due to the disruption in expatriates’ environment. The process of adjusting to a novel sociocultural setting can pose challenges to the self-concept and to the identities that sustain it, while also providing opportunities for personal development. Despite the relevance of identity for psychological well-being, the implications of expatriation for expatriates’ self-concept and identities remain an under-researched topic in the field. The present research investigates this issue from a constructivist paradigm and through qualitative methodology. It is based in literature on expatriation and identity, and employs, as method of data collection, semi-structured interviews with Spanish SIE nurses in Germany (n=20); Spanish nurses repatriated from Germany (n=10); and key informants (KIs) from private and public organisations (n=7). The research program comprises three studies. Study One explores the perceptions of KIs who are knowledgeable of the context of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany. Study Two focuses on Spanish SIE nurses in Germany and repatriated from Germany, exploring their expatriation experiences in detail. Finally, Study Three focuses on a group of participants from Study Two, aiming to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their experiences. The research program addresses the research aim through five research questions: RQ1 – How do the motives for self-initiated expatriation and the pre-departure information of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany affect their expatriation experience? RQ2 – How do cross-cultural interactions affect self-conceptions of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany? RQ3 – How does the expatriation experience affect the perceived personal development of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany? RQ4 – What are the push/pull forces affecting the intentions of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany regarding continued expatriation/repatriation? RQ5 – How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the expatriation experience of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany? The findings show that low proficiency in the host country language (HCL) and the challenging workplace interactions that ensued, threatened both the self-concept and the professional identity of the Spanish nurses. Employment in lower skilled or unskilled nursing jobs in Germany posed further challenges to their role identity. The language barrier and perceived cultural differences prompted their reliance on social networks of fellow Spaniards, mostly other nurses, from whom they obtained social validation. Over time, the participants’ higher proficiency in the HCL led to increased positive feedback in the workplace, which together with perceptions of personal growth and achievement, enabled them to rebuild positive self-conceptions and validate their professional identity. An important outcome of the expatriation experience was the nurses perceived themselves as stronger, self-confident, and resilient, after overcoming challenges in Germany. The nurses’ motivation for self-initiated expatriation, based on the strong push of unemployment in Spain, impacted negatively on their experiences in Germany, as they were not proactive in acquiring reliable pre-departure information (RQ1). This, in turn, translated into unrealistic expectations regarding living and working conditions in Germany, which contributed to the challenges posed by language barriers and unskilled nursing positions. The nurses’ low proficiency in the HCL translated into challenging workplace interactions, which threatened their positive self-conceptions, while perceived cultural differences between home and host countries reinforced cultural identity salience amongst the participants (RQ2). The research found that restored positive self-conceptions and a strong perception of personal growth and achievement enabled personal identity development (RQ3). Family in the home country was the main pull force for repatriation amongst the Spanish nurses, together with cultural differences, home country lifestyle and the possibility to work in their first language, while the main pull force for continued expatriation was professional and financial stability in the host country (RQ4). Finally, the nurses experienced a psychological burden due to an information overload about the impact of COVID-19 in Spain, concern regarding their families in the home country, and travel restrictions (RQ5). Nevertheless, the pandemic reinforced the participants’ intention to continue their expatriation, due to their perceptions of personal safety in the host country, and negative appraisal of job and economic prospects in Spain. This research program contributes to theory building on the influence of expatriation on self-concept and identity, by showing the effects of low proficiency in the HCL and unskilled positions on self-conceptions and role identity, the salience of cultural identity in the face of cultural differences, and personal development during expatriation. The results provide evidence of the connection between language and identity in the context of expatriation, underlining how language influences self-conceptions and social identification. Together with providing insights into identity outcomes of expatriation, the research extends current understanding of SIEs’ experiences, which are still less known than those of Assigned Expatriates (AEs). Specifically, it studies a group of SIEs in the type of professional roles that expatriation literature has tended to overlook, and shows how their experiences differ from those of high-status SIEs from highly developed countries. In terms of practical implications, the findings allow recommendations for SIEs and the organisations involved with them to be advanced. The results underline the need to ensure that SIEs acquire reliable pre-departure information and achieve sufficient HCL proficiency before entering the host country workplace. Furthermore, cross-cultural training for SIEs and HCNs could promote cultural awareness amongst multinational teams, thus buffering the effects of cultural differences in workplace interactions.