Work

Navigating Layered Exclusion: Workplace Dynamics and Inter-Migrant Discrimination Among African Professionals in Australia

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper investigates layered workplace exclusions experienced by African professionals in Australian workplaces. Through semi-structured interviews with 44 participants and a qualitative phenomenological design, the study reveals experiences of subtle exclusion, workplace gatekeeping, and power struggles that African professionals face from various sources—dominant cultural groups, other migrant communities, and within their own professional networks. An integrated theoretical framework combining Intersectionality Theory, Social Dominance Theory, and Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural capital and habitus examines how overlapping identities and power hierarchies shape workplace relationships and professional belonging. The findings show that diversity and inclusion efforts often neglect the layered nature of exclusion that African professionals navigate, limiting their effectiveness. This study contributes to migration and workplace diversity scholarship by highlighting the need for inclusion strategies that address the complex realities of workplace exclusion in multicultural professional environments rather than relying on simple majority–minority binaries.

Source: Societies

DOI: 10.3390/soc15100290

Authors: Olabisi Imonitie, Stephen Bolaji, Tinashe Dune, Sulay Jalloh, Isaac Akefe

Institutions: Murdoch University, Federation University, Charles Darwin University

Language: English

Topic: Gender Diversity and Inequality

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,689