Home is where the hearts are. A qualitative study on home-making practices of expatriate families in the Brainport region of the Netherlands and the role of the Get in Touch program
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2020-07-15
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en
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The purpose of this research is twofold. Primarily, it aims to develop new insights into the way expatriate families make an effort to ‘feel at home’, achieved through so-called home-making practices. It is argued that this is a crucial topic to require more understanding of; due to adjustment problems, many cases of early terminations of expat contracts have been documented. A troublesome development, as the influx of expats can increase a region’s competitive advantage. Secondarily, this research aims to study the possible influence of a social support program on these home-making practices. The specific setting for this research is the Brainport region of the Netherlands, a major technological breeding ground, which hosts a large number of expats. For the region, talent retention is a crucial endeavour, making insights into expats’ home-making practices valuable. For nearly ten years, a social support program for international spouses called Get in Touch (GiT) has been a life changer for expat families; due to the program’s impact, less instances of an early departure of expats have been documented. As such, this research delves deeper in the situation of expat families in the Brainport region. Through a combination of qualitative research methods, home-making practices of these expat families’ will be documented, and the possible influence of the GiT program on these home-making practices will be unravelled.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen