The Gender of Multiculturalism: Cultural Tokenism and the Institutional Isolation of Immigrant Women Faculty

Abstract

Much research on tokenism has focused on the organizational processes by which white women and racial minorities experience heightened surveillance at work and become occupationally immobile. Little research has considered how tokenism operates for other minority workers, such as immigrants. We theorize cultural tokenism to explain the ways in which foreign-born minorities in the United States are held up against hegemonic ethnic markers besides cultural gender standards and racial stereotypes, resulting in their interpersonal and institutional exoticization. Drawing on interviews with 33 immigrant women university faculty, this study shows how cultural contrasts make work difficult for high-status, foreign-born professional women. Specifically, they experience gendered pressures to provide U.S.-born students with “cultural enrichment” experiences and demonstrate organizational diversity while navigating the effects of tokenism. This research explains barriers to promotion and work satisfaction for immigrant women in white-collar jobs, and raises questions about how organizations can benefit from hiring these workers without exploiting them.