Public defence in International Business, M.Sc (Econ. & Bus.Adm.) Hilla Back

Title of thesis: Skilled yet minoritized: An equality, diversity, and inclusion perspective on skilled migrants in multilingual organizations

Doctoral student: Hilla Back

Opponents: Associate Professor Stacey Fitzsimmons, University of Victoria, and Professor Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen, Åbo Akademi 

Custos (Chairperson): Professor Rebecca Piekkari, Aalto University School of Business

Skilled yet minoritized: An equality, diversity, and inclusion perspective on skilled migrants in multilingual organizations

Countries are increasingly reliant on skilled migration to counteract trends of decreasing birthrates, ageing populations, and talent deficits. At the same time, however, migration is contested by more nationalist actors in society, calling for greater focus on national languages and closed borders. For skilled migrants, this makes for a challenging situation. Are they needed, but not wanted? In this dissertation, I unravel this dilemma through a language perspective. Through single case studies of two multilingual organizations in Finland, I shed light on the discrimination, marginalization, and differential status of a specific minority group: skilled migrants not proficient in the local language of their host country. In doing so, I highlight language as a key dimension of diversity in its own right, thus linking language-sensitive international business research to research on equality, diversity, and inclusion. Key results of this dissertation include highlighting the role of language in creating inclusion-related paradoxes (e.g. global competitiveness versus closed borders and 'Finns first'), conceptualizing language-based discrimination in multilingual organizations, and linking coping strategies to inclusion implications. To conclude, I offer practical implications on how to achieve a polyphonic organization in which different linguistic resources are equally respected. 

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/

Contact information:
hilla.back@aalto.fi

+358 40 147 0337

Doctoral theses in the School of Business: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/50

Zoom Quick Guide: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/zoom-quick-guide