“This is my job now”: Exploring the identity shift of trailing mothers through the lens of feminist mothering

Abstract

Trailing spouses who relocate to support their partners' careers abroad often experience a threat or challenge to their sense of identity. Prior studies have shown that because expatriation processes reinforce traditional gender roles, expatriate mothers are involved in intensive mothering practices and ideologies, often as a way of finding new meaning in their lives. The current study aimed to explore how motherhood and professional identity intersect in trailing wives, and specifically, whether expatriate‐related developments in professional and mother identities reciprocally influence each other. In addition, the study explored whether these identity development processes may be intertwined with current sociocultural norms of motherhood. The study included in‐depth interviews with 14 trailing mothers of children under the age of 12. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns of meaning across the dataset. Three main themes emerged capturing participants' experiences of their identity processes: negotiating the model of intensive mothering, mutual influence of mother identity and work identity, and empowered mothering. Together, these themes demonstrate how, through the subjective construction of their work and mother identities, expatriate mothers deconstruct the oppressive mandates of motherhood, reclaiming their power and agency.