Female Presence in Expatriate Life
Our experiences and accounts bear witness to the fact that not only Keralite men but now also women are migrating to diaspora for livelihood. Not only are their numbers increasing in the modern world system, but it may become necessary to survive economic crises. Thus the women living in diaspora can be divided into three categories:
- Women living in exile for work
- Women who stay with their families only as housewives
- Women who live with their families and are employed.
The number of these three categories of women living in exile is likely to increase in the coming times. A few years ago, the number of Malayali women employed abroad was very limited. Look at Kerala itself. In the past, only a few young women from South Kerala were employed as doctors, nurses or teachers.
Today, that situation has changed a lot. The tendency of women from North Kerala including Malappuram district to take up employment at home and abroad is now increasing. It is enough to see it as a way to enjoy life’s pleasant journey and to meet the unaffordable cost of living. Or it means that the pressure of the situation is a reason for the women to enter the exile life.
In today’s scenario of increasing women’s education and empowerment, there is no doubt that the influx of women into the diaspora sector will increase in order to reconcile the two ends of life and maintain a high standard of living in the new world economy. According to a recent estimate, women make up 40 percent of the world’s workforce. But their number in the non-resident labor sector is 22 percent.
Things to watch out for
Women are the ones who have to take a lot of precautions in their expatriate life. The responsibility to preserve Kerala’s unique moral and cultural tradition should not be forgotten. Various trends rise and fall in the diaspora over time. If they forget their own culture and adapt to it, not only will they have to bite their fingers in the twilight of life, but family ties will also shake. The unrest and discomfort it creates will be indescribable.
Women, especially in the diaspora, face a variety of common problems when it comes to employment. The psychological pressures of the new environment, social isolation, prejudice, family anxiety, working hours, work-life balance are obvious obstacles that can be imagined. They need to acquire the mental strength to face it with courage.
There are signs that increasing employment opportunities for women are emerging globally with the suggestion that multinational corporations urgently need to expand their talent pool worldwide and consider more talented female job seekers compared to their male counterparts. Expatriates are individuals assigned by multinational companies to projects in foreign countries. Companies will be careful to appoint capable expatriate candidates irrespective of gender in such schemes. Empowerment of women in the field of education widens their employment opportunities.
But still, expatriate women need to acquire cultural awareness and unique skills to adapt and adjust to the host country. International travel and the need to attend conferences may increase in the future. At all times it is necessary to hold on to their culture and tradition. Modernization can include; can accept But it should not be mixed with the blind western culture.