Virtual enclaves

The Influence of Alumni Email Lists on the Workspaces of Transnational Software Engineers

Bibliographic Data

ID4263164
AuthorsAnne Montgomery (0000-0003-0870-7126, Michigan State University, corresponding author), Alesia F Montgomery
Year2008
Volume8
Issue1
Pages71-93
Publication date2008-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Networks (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-2266 • E-ISSN: 1471-0374
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1471-0374.2008.00186.x
OpenAlexW2018164272
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited45

At the turn of the twentieth century, ethnic enclaves helped immigrants to find jobs and to adjust to their surroundings. In the twenty-first century, transnational professionals also have other spaces of support: the 'virtual' enclaves made possible by new communication tools. Based on interviews with high-tech professionals over the course of an industry boom and downturn, in this article I trace the institutions that affected structures of online help with work. For some engineers from India and Taiwan, alumni ties, maintained by email lists, were important; these transnational workers had an allegiance to their 'batch' (university cohort) that the US-born workers lacked. Their far-flung, multi-tiered alumni lists combined the benefits of strong and weak ties: deep commitments and unique information. This study makes a contribution to theorization of immigrant adjustment, social capital and work technologies

Allegiance · Boom · Business · Immigration · Interpersonal ties · Political science · Public relations · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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