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Delicate Dialogues: Faculty Member’s Experiences to Language Barriers within a Swedish University

Hayden, Ruth LU and Tapaila, Annami LU (2024) MGTN59 20241
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate how faculty members at Lund’s School of Economics and Management experience language barriers within the workplace. The study focuses on the relationship specifically between the language use of Swedish and English within the working environment. Data for this research were collected by conducting 14 semi-structured interviews with employees from the faculty. The participants ranged from Swedish natives to international faculty members. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. They then were coded into the most relevant themes and categories. The data extracted is then presented through quotes and excerpts from the interviews in relation to these themes. The results reveal that... (More)
The purpose of this study is to investigate how faculty members at Lund’s School of Economics and Management experience language barriers within the workplace. The study focuses on the relationship specifically between the language use of Swedish and English within the working environment. Data for this research were collected by conducting 14 semi-structured interviews with employees from the faculty. The participants ranged from Swedish natives to international faculty members. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. They then were coded into the most relevant themes and categories. The data extracted is then presented through quotes and excerpts from the interviews in relation to these themes. The results reveal that faculty members at the school experience barriers to integration, issues in accessing higher-up administrative positions and being constricted to bachelor-level teaching due to language. The impact of the school's language policy on the experience of these barriers is examined. Additionally, barriers to learning the local tongue are also discussed, along with anxiety and guilt around the topic. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that subtle
discrimination and managerial relations can be obscured by this aforementioned guilt. The results provide some support for existing research in the area, complementing the studies already conducted in similar international industries. Although qualitative research cannot be broadly generalised, we nevertheless believe that our study contributes to the important work regarding workplace diversity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Hayden, Ruth LU and Tapaila, Annami LU
supervisor
organization
course
MGTN59 20241
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Keywords: language barriers, exclusion, managerial implications, experiences, guilt, subtle discrimination, language policy, domain loss, language clustering
language
English
id
9155952
date added to LUP
2024-06-24 12:56:16
date last changed
2024-06-24 12:56:16
@misc{9155952,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this study is to investigate how faculty members at Lund’s School of Economics and Management experience language barriers within the workplace. The study focuses on the relationship specifically between the language use of Swedish and English within the working environment. Data for this research were collected by conducting 14 semi-structured interviews with employees from the faculty. The participants ranged from Swedish natives to international faculty members. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. They then were coded into the most relevant themes and categories. The data extracted is then presented through quotes and excerpts from the interviews in relation to these themes. The results reveal that faculty members at the school experience barriers to integration, issues in accessing higher-up administrative positions and being constricted to bachelor-level teaching due to language. The impact of the school's language policy on the experience of these barriers is examined. Additionally, barriers to learning the local tongue are also discussed, along with anxiety and guilt around the topic. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that subtle
discrimination and managerial relations can be obscured by this aforementioned guilt. The results provide some support for existing research in the area, complementing the studies already conducted in similar international industries. Although qualitative research cannot be broadly generalised, we nevertheless believe that our study contributes to the important work regarding workplace diversity.}},
  author       = {{Hayden, Ruth and Tapaila, Annami}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Delicate Dialogues: Faculty Member’s Experiences to Language Barriers within a Swedish University}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}