On a Journey to Community Leadership: Newly Arrived Migrant · 10/1/2016 · project aims to...

1 | Page On a Journey to Community Leadership

On a Journey to

Community Leadership:

Newly Arrived Migrant

Women in Tower

Hamlets

February 2014


On a Journey to Community Leadership: Experiences of

Newly Arrived Migrant Women in Tower Hamlets

1. Executive summary

2. Introduction

2.1 Local context: Tower Hamlets

2.2 The Arbour: Lead to Inspire

2.3 Policy context: Family migration

3 Literature review

4 Methodology

4.1 Research aims

4.2 Research questions

5 Research participants

5.1 Profile of the participants of Lead to Inspire

5.2 Other contributors to this research

6 Research findings

6.1 Civic participation

6.2 Being a migrant woman leader

6.3 Leadership in Action

7 Conclusions

8 Recommendations

Bibliography

Appendix A

Appendix B


Acknowledgments

These research findings were collected across the first 12 months of the Lead to Inspire project

delivery and to some degree reflect the changes happening within the project. By the time the first

initial draft of the research project was ready; our work with migrant women leaders has moved on

and the participants were bringing new issues to the table. The decision was then made to extend

the research period and to widen the remit of this research. As result, additional interviews and

questionnaires were completed to reflect the experiences of the women and their journeys towards

community leadership.

The first stage of the research has been undertaken by Dr. Natalia Paszkiewicz, Researcher at the

Arbour, supported through internal supervision from Klara Schmitz, Project Leader for Lead to

Inspire at the Arbour. Preliminary exploratory research and the research framework were

conducted by Klara Schmitz.

The second stage of the research was conducted by The Arbour’s Director, Jitka Markova and the

Head of Women’s Services, Victoria Garner.

The research was conducted with external supervision from Dr. Omar Khan, Head of Policy Research

at Runnymede.

With thanks to all participants who have taken part in this project, without whose valuable

contributions to the research, this report would not have been possible.

As part of the Migrant Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Project (Lead to Inspire), this

research report has been funded by the European Integration Fund for Third Country Nationals (EIF).

Supported by EIF


1. Executive Summary

This report on migrant women and community leadership has been produced as part of the Lead to

Inspire project at the Arbour. The Arbour provides a range of services to local communities in Tower

Hamlets, a diverse borough of London with a sizeable migrant population. The Lead to Inspire

project aims to support newly arrived migrant women to become leaders in their local communities.

The research presented here focuses on notions of community leadership amongst newly arrived

migrant women. It seeks to explore the levels of civic participation of migrant women and discuss

the barriers and opportunities for these women in taking on leadership roles in the local community.

The research involves a comprehensive literature review on migrant community leadership and

integration, and data collection using a combination of research methods including interviews and

focus groups with participants of the Lead to Inspire project at the Arbour, as well as with female

community leaders, experts in the field, local organizations and councillors in Tower Hamlets.

The aim of this project is to increase our understanding of the needs and experiences of migrant

women in the local area, to explore the factors influencing their leadership potential, and to

document good practice in service delivery of integration initiatives. It is hoped this will inform

future service provision which aims to go beyond language acquisition and encourage migrant

women to become more active in their communities as a path towards greater social inclusion.

This report provides an insight into the intersection between migrant and gender identity, and the

meaning of community leadership from the point of view of participants on the Lead to Inspire

course at the Arbour. Both the local context of Tower Hamlets and the policy context relating to

family migration provide a background to the research. The literature review explores the

application of social capital theory to migrant civic participation and the ways in which it can

enhance our understanding of integration processes.

Presumably due to the changes in immigration rules have led to more diverse range of women

accessing provision. Leads to Inspire participants are just one example of these “new migrant

women” who have higher levels of spoken English, greater education from their country of origin as

well as a range of employment experiences. Greater engagement in civic life (71%) shows that some

of these women have had a greater engagement in active civic participation in their country of origin

and this informs their aspirations for social inclusion upon arrival to the UK. Almost half (43%) of the

women have reported to have been involved in community organisation in their home country.

From the personal stories of the women on the Lead to Inspire project we know that almost all of

the organisations they were involved in were local grassroots initiatives supporting local people,

addressing very specific problems faced by the community they lived or worked in.

Arriving in the UK, migrant women have taken their first steps in civic participation through the Lead

to Inspire project. 57% of the women felt that migrants need more information and support and this

was their reason for getting involved in civic participation. It clearly shows that migrant women are

aware of their own needs as well as the needs of other migrants within the wider British society and

the need for more support services and information for the greater engagement of migrant

communities.


.

Notions of leadership and what leadership looks like vary enormously (equal amount of migrant

women 17% - answered both yes and no to the question “Are you a leader?”), however, the majority

of the migrant women who took part in the research (66%) recognised that there was an

understanding that becoming a leader doesn’t happen overnight and there is a journey to go on.

This positively reflects the women’s high expectations of themselves as leaders in a community

setting and their understanding of the journey they are on both in terms of their own integration,

understanding of the British society and skills needed to effectively lead within the migrant and

wider society.

Whilst universally it has been recognised that there needs to be more female role models in the

wider society, it is even more important for newly arrived migrant women who are looking for

positive role models for themselves.

In order to better understand migrant women’s leadership journeys and practicalities of their

leadership, we have analysed user-led projects delivered as part of the Lead to inspire course. We

have explored with the women the reasons behind some of the decisions made, what influenced

them and how their understanding of leadership has been shaped by these experiences. We have

done this through the user-led projects – projects which are designed, created and delivered by

participants on the Lead to Inspire course. User-led projects address a need or problem in the local

community with participants being tasked to create something that will either fill a gap in provision,

increase knowledge and skills or act as a self-supporting group. Projects vary in their outputs, but a

few examples include: a leaflet in Mandarin explaining the NHS for the Chinese community, IT

classes for newly-arrived migrant women; a website dedicated to informing migrants of systems and

structures in place in the UK and a forum theatre group designed to increase confidence amongst

migrant women to help them reflect on their choices in life.

28.6% of the women said that their main reason for choosing their particular user led project was

the fact that they wanted to know more about the community. 21.4% said they had a desire to help

the migrant community and to learn English. This puts migrant women in a desirable position – they

are the most knowledgeable about their communities and understand best what the needs are.

Being active in their own learning and integration elevates migrant women from the objects of study

and discussion to the position of active enablers with opinions and knowledge to share. Such a

position is empowering as it is desirable. That they can share this and disseminate their findings to

their peers makes it all the more remarkable.

Some user-led projects targeted the wider community – a mix of the migrant and host communities.

Questions and fears surrounding how the wider community would react to migrant women’s

leadership remain unfounded with the host community accepting migrant women as educators and

informers in the local community.

All participants of this research project recognised that there is a need for greater visible leadership

by migrant women in the community, because it has the potential to inspire other women to have

greater aspirations, change some stereotypical images of women, and promote gender equality. A


common thread which runs through this report is the notion that gender, culture, religion, class,

education and family background can all serve as both barriers and opportunities when discussing

community leadership. It is therefore important to recognize that the degree to which migrant

women assume leadership roles varies according to their background.

Our recommendations are:

1. More in-depth screening needs to be developed by ESOL providers to assess migrant women’s

potential that goes beyond traditional ESOL assessment.

2. Migrant women who demonstrate leadership potential need to be provided with a support

package to help them further develop their skills and in order to contribute to localised solutions

for communities across the UK.

3. A structured mentoring scheme to support emerging migrant women leaders needs to be set up

to provide 1:1 mentoring and coaching in regards to active civic participation and community

mobilisation.

4. Activists lobbying on behalf of migrant and women’s issues should work with migrant women to

re-define “migrant women’s leadership” as traditional definitions and leadership roles might not

apply.

5. Actors need to make better use of the talent and skills of migrant women and find more

appropriate ways to engage migrant women in debates about issues concerning their future.

6. Policymakers should strive to better include the voices of migrant women as part of improving

their consultation with migrant communities in relation to strategies for promoting social

inclusion.


2. Introduction

This report seeks to increase our understanding of the needs and experiences of newly arrived

migrant women in Tower Hamlets, contribute to the literature on migrant community leadership,

and document the Arbour’s unique model for service delivery of its leadership course. It examines

views of migrant women on community leadership and maps the level of their actual involvement.

The report first provides the background in terms of the local context of the borough of Tower

Hamlets, London, in which the research is situated. It then gives an introduction to the role of the

Arbour as a community centre, and the Lead to Inspire project of which this research project is a

part. The policy context is then outlined, before a literature review highlighting existing theory and

research as it relates to this subject of this project. The methodology section highlights the principles

aims, research questions, and participants of the research. The research findings are focused on the

levels of civic participation and degree to which leadership roles are assumed by migrant women,

and the barriers and opportunities for women to assume leadership roles in the public sphere. The

report also aims to create a springboard for action to improve the participation of migrant women,

and hence the recommendations stemming from the report are structured around the conditions

needed to facilitate a greater engagement of migrant women in the local community.

2.1 Local context: Tower Hamlets Following the recent policy emphasis on neighbourhoods and community - so called ‘new localism’

(Morphet 2007: 170) - the research presented here is very much focused on the local context,

whereby civic participation is perceived as ‘situated practice’ (Cornwall 2002: 51). This perspective

frames challenges and opportunities in taking on community leadership roles with reference to

actual political, social, cultural and historical experiences of the diverse groups of people living in an

area. The idea of space is closely linked to the notion of community where place attachment, social

trust, and consequently, processes of social inclusion and exclusion are all intertwined and

interlinked. Research findings presented in this study do have nation-wide policy implications, but

their grounding in the local context, the borough of Tower Hamlets, is of central importance.

The Arbour is located in Tower Hamlets, one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in the UK. The

East End has a fascinating history of migration, perhaps most visibly reflected by a changing

character of the local places of worship: the building currently housing the Brick Lane Mosque

served French Protestant communities in 1743, was later converted to a Methodist Chapel, then to a

Great Synagogue in 1898, and finally a Mosque, the Jamme Masjid in 1976. Tower Hamlets is home

to the largest Bangladeshi population in the UK – 40% of the borough’s residents are of Bengali

origin - whose presence can be traced back to the seventeenth century when the East India

Company began tea trading in South Asia. Bengali workers were first employed as seamen, and later

on, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as servants. Following the granting of free entry into

the UK for people from Commonwealth countries, the largest influx of Bengalis settled in the East

End. A second wave of Bengali immigration – this time including women and children coming to join

their husbands in the UK - took place in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. This was when the

first Bengali political, cultural and religious institutions were set up in Tower Hamlets, including two


Bengali women’s organizations, Mahila Samity and Nari Samity, which organised group activities,

language classes and craft classes (Eade and Garbin 2002). The historically high levels of involvement

in civil society and the debates on civic participation have been intrinsic to the area since the

establishment of those migrant community organizations (Eade and Garbin 2002).

However, Tower Hamlets also has unemployment rates twice the London average at 13%, a lack of

affordable housing, and low wages, making the borough the third most deprived in the UK and the

second poorest in London (Local Economic Assessment Statistics 2011 cited in Mayhew and Harper

2011). A quarter of borough residents have no qualifications and 40% of those residents are not in

work (Local Economic Assessment Statistics 2011 cited in Mayhew and Harper 2011). This is

particularly striking in the case of women: Tower Hamlets has the second highest proportion of

economically inactive working age women in the UK at 44% , compared to 30% for the general

population of the UK (ONS, Nomis 2012 cited in Mayhew and Harper 2011). Almost 78% of the

borough’s Bangladeshi women do not work (ONS, Annual Population Survey 4 year average 2008-

2011 cited in Mayhew and Harper 2011). The 2011 census results show that in 19% of households

English is not the main language spoken, and according to Tower Hamlets Health and lifestyle survey

2008/2009 (cited in Mayhew and Harper 2011), 38% of Bangladeshi women rated their proficiency in

English as poor.

While speaking English makes living in the UK easier, it does not eradicate the structural problems of

substandard housing, poor schools, limited employment opportunities, discrimination, religious and

cultural misconceptions, gender inequalities and family responsibilities (Ahmed 2008: 9).

Bangladeshi women begin families at a younger age and typically have more children closer together

(Mayhew and Harper 2011). In Tower Hamlets child poverty is the worst in the capital at 52%; in

some wards it is as high as 70% (End Child Poverty 2011). 63% of the three generational households

are Bangladeshi, so apart from childcare responsibilities, women often also care for sick and older

people in their extended families (Mayhew and Harper 2011). Moving to such a socially deprived but

close-knit community presents a series of both challenges and opportunities for migrant women

new to the UK.

2.2 The Arbour: Lead to Inspire

The Arbour was established by St. Dunstan’s and All Saints Church in Stepney after World War II as a

response to local social and economic deprivation. The Centre started its activities in 1953 and

became a registered charity in 1967 and has been working in the Tower Hamlets area for more than

50 years. Over the years the organization has responded to local needs and has supported the

changing local population made up of different migrant communities. The Arbour today provides a

wide range of services to children, young people and adults across Tower Hamlets including working

with young people at risk of disengaging from school, youth clubs, pre-employment training for

adults, and women’s services to new migrants including ESOL classes, family learning sessions for

new mothers, and a community leadership course.

As part of its Women’s Services, the Arbour runs the Lead to Inspire project, a leadership course

aimed at newly arrived women who are third country nationals admitted to the UK with a visa

category that may lead to settlement. Participants of the Lead to Inspire course at the Arbour form a


significant proportion of the participants involved in this research. The majority of participants on

the Lead to Inspire project are young women from a range of countries in Asia, the Middle East and

Africa, have been in the UK less than 5 years, and come to the UK to join spouses.

The project seeks to increase the social inclusion of migrant women and empowers them to act as

leaders and peer mentors within their local communities. It is designed to equip participants with

the English language skills needed to settle in the UK, IT skills, and the necessary community

leadership skills to undertake community outreach and user-led projects. The course also provides

opportunities for the participants to improve access to further education, enhance their

employability skills, increase their access to local services, and learn more about how to fulfil their

potential in multicultural Britain. In addition the project has a research element, the output of which

is this paper.

The project was instigated on the basis of several needs within the local community. Mapping of

service providers in Tower Hamlets indicates that there is a lack of culturally sensitive service

provision which specifically addresses some of the more complex needs of newly arrived migrant

women with no recourse to public funds across the borough. There is a lack of tailor-made

integration programmes which go beyond English language provision and are designed for newly

arrived migrant women aspiring to create local change. The Lead to Inspire project therefore fills an

important gap in the integration initiatives offered by existing organisations in the area.

Lead to Inspire aims to generate successful integration outcomes which involve more than just

language acquisition. Whilst the course simultaneously improves the English language skills of our

participants, it also develops other skills necessary to enable newly arrived migrant women to better

navigate British society and become role models for other newly arrived migrant women. The

project aids the integration of migrant women by improving participants’ access to mainstream

services and increasing their participation in civic, cultural and political life. By providing participants

with opportunities to engage with local grassroots activities as well as wider national policy

developments, the project aims to addresses the under-representation of newly arrived women in

many of the existing platforms for local consultation and decision-making.

The project also addresses the lack of grassroots initiatives for migrant women led by the

beneficiaries themselves. Even though in recent years the provision of ESOL classes has started to

develop outside the traditional mainstream provision offered by colleges and the local council, it is

still the case that very few services are developed and delivered by the beneficiaries themselves.

This gap in provision means that it is still predominantly the host community which provides the

services to newly arrived migrant communities, creating a challenge of long term sustainability of

this provision. By equipping newly arrived migrant women themselves with the skills necessary for

successful design and delivery of user-led projects this project offers a long-term sustainable

solution for more integrated local communities.

The Arbour’s model of leadership development is outlined in more detail in the appendix at the end

of this paper, and details the evidence and structures of the Arbour’s approach to working with

migrant women to support a new generation of local community leaders.


2.3 Policy context: Family migration

Family migration into the UK comprises around 17% of all immigration from outside the European

Union (Migration Observatory 2012). According to Kofman, there are three basic types of family

migration in the European context (Kofman 2004: 245–247):

Family reunification, in which members of the nuclear family join the primary migrant

already residing in the country of destination;

Migration due to family formation or marriage migration. On the one hand, there are

permanent residents or citizens who bring in a partner they have met during a stay abroad.

On the other hand, it includes ‘second and subsequent generations of children of migrant

origin (citizens and non-citizens) who bring in a fiancé(e)/spouse from their parents’

homeland or diasporic space’;

Family migration where the entire family migrates simultaneously. Migrants of this category

are often only allowed to have long-term residence permits, although exceptions are made

for the highly skilled.

Most participants at the Arbour fall under the second category mentioned above: many come to the

UK from Bangladesh due to marriage migration. In the UK in general, the largest number of family

migrants are of South Asian origin, with the top two nationalities among all family route migrants

being Pakistani and Indian (Jayaweera 2013: 7). According to the Migration Observatory (2012), the

majority of non-EEA family reunification migrants are women. Only members of the immediate

nuclear family are eligible to enter the UK provided that they will be adequately supported, and

migrant partners are permitted to work but have no recourse to public funds for at least the first five

years. This has serious implications in terms of access to services: women who come to the UK on

spouse visas are excluded from mainstream services such as jobcentres, and are classified as

‘overseas students’ when accessing education. Two main pillars of integration – language acquisition

and support to enter the labour market – are then directly undermined by this policy.

Furthermore, frequently changing complex migration policies make it increasingly difficult to enter

the UK. In November 2010 the government introduced a pre-entry English language test for people

applying to come to the UK as spouses and partners, and in July 2012 it issued further new measures

amending the rules on family migration. These included a new minimum income threshold for family

sponsorship, and an extended period from two to five years before spouses can apply for

settlement. The £18,600 minimum income requirement is based on the income level at which a two

partner family is no longer eligible for in-work benefits (Kofman and Wray 2013); consequently, it is

£22,400 for a partner and one child and an extra £2,400 for each additional child. The Family

Migration Rules changed again in June 2013: cuts to legal aid were implemented, and the right of

appeal for refused family visit applications was revoked. The government’s objective was to reduce

net migration, stop abuse, promote integration and reduce any burden on the UK taxpayer. And

indeed, the number of family visa applications fell by 57% in the first 6 months following the

introduction of the new rules, and the refusal rate has more than doubled: overall, there was 78%

decrease in the number of visas issued (Kofman and Wray 2013).

At the time of writing, the new regulations are being legally challenged on the basis that they are at

odds with international treaties relating to right to a family life. With regards to integration, it seems


more likely that the five year probationary period will undermine, rather than facilitate a sense of

belonging to the UK. Numerous studies exploring integration amongst refugee groups clearly

indicate that granting short term protection to refugees makes it more difficult for them to make

longer-term settlement plans. Although people coming to the UK to join their partners are of course

not forced migrants, it should be noted that for many – in particular for women – family migration to

Britain is often not their own choice. In that sense, family migration is not an example of

conventional ‘economic migration’. Nonetheless, the argument that migrant spouses constitute a

burden for the UK taxpayer is somewhat dubious because employment rates are higher than the

national average for both men and women who came to the UK as spouses and have since

naturalized (Home Office 2011).


3. Literature review

The notion of community is usually represented as a positive phenomenon, and people undoubtedly

gain a great deal of meaning, support and indeed personal identity from the various communities to

which they belong. However, a more critical approach recognizes that community is not only an

inclusive but also an exclusive entity: since it reflects a system of social relations and moral order, it

implies an element of coercion (Purdue et al. 2000: 3). Notions of social control are of particular

significance when discussing migrant women and community leadership because women are

typically expected to preserve and pass on cultural norms and traditions. It has been argued that the

biological role of females in reproduction and the socially and culturally defined role as mothers,

bearers and nurturers of children provide the basis for their subordination (Rosaldo 1974).

Transgressing traditionally defined gender norms in a ‘socially encapsulated’ population (Peach

2006) such as in the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets is therefore particularly challenging

for women. Women often face a ‘cultural glass ceiling’ (Biseswar 2008: 138), that is a network of

cultural, traditional and religious belief systems which can restrict their agency. However, that does

not imply that there are no resources in Bengali or Muslim cultures for female leadership. In Islam, a

great emphasis is put on civic responsibility and charitable deeds (Ali et al. 2012).

In structural terms, both gender and migration, or the intersection between two social identities -

being a migrant and a woman - can be explored through the lens of the divide between the private

and public spheres. Social inclusion involves reaching out to the public sphere: it is difficult to

envisage the integration of migrants without interactions beyond their immediate family. On a policy

level, community involvement is encouraged as a tool in building social cohesion and fostering social

capital (Burton et al. 2004: IV). At the same time, there is a tendency to situate if not confine

women from certain cultural backgrounds to the private sphere, and to see them as primarily

homemakers, rather than community makers. For many Muslim migrant women who participate in

projects at the Arbour, agency is not conceptualized as resistance to domination but as ‘capacity for

action translated in cultivation and performance of gendered Islamic virtues’ (Mahmood 2001: 234).

Rather than essentializing cultural differences, community centres such as the Arbour have to find

culturally appropriate ways of working with women from migrant backgrounds. This is because, to

draw on one-time Labour Home Secretary Roy Jenkins’ classic definition, integration is ‘not a

flattening process of assimilation but equal opportunity accompanied by cultural diversity in an

atmosphere of mutual tolerance’ (cited in Sivanandan 2006). It is therefore useful to initially foster

self-confidence by teaching women about their own ‘inherent’ leadership skills in their extended

families and religious communities (Blackwell, no date), in order to encourage transferring those to

the public sphere.

The political agency of migrants has received relatively little academic attention, as migrant

populations tend to be perceived as the objects and not subjects of politics (Morales and Giugni

2011: 7). They are often stripped of political agency and are represented as merely passive recipients

of migration and integration policies. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that most

migrants lack real opportunities for conventionally understood political participation (e.g. voting,

joining a political party) due to their immigration status (Castles 2000). In the migration context it is

therefore important to avoid interpreting political participation too restrictively. Rather, it is more


helpful to define it as different ways in which individuals take part in the management of the

collective affairs of a given community (Martiniello 2005). Breslin et al (2006) introduced an inclusive

notion of ‘effective citizenship’ defined as informed engagement of individuals around issues

relating to the public domain. Here emphasis is placed on the processual and dynamic character of

political incorporation (Hochschild and Mollenkopf 2009; Minnite 2009), and it is linked to political

literacy which develops through ‘civic enculturation’ (Tillie 2004) comprised of skills such as

debating, reading newspapers and being interested in political affairs.

The Lead to Inspire course offered at the Arbour is certainly contributing to the civic enculturation of

migrant women. But this also indicates that acquiring those skills is a process:

‘The ability to participate as a citizen in a political community demands qualities and skills that require development’ (Furbey et al. 2006: 42).

It must also be noted that migrant women on the Leadership course have been in the UK for usually

less than 5 years, and the longer the duration of stay, the more likely that migrants participate in the

political life of the host society. In that sense, there is a limit to how much can be done within a short

period of time, and solely through the involvement of a community centre without other actors

involved. Migration is often a lonely experience for newly arrived migrant women, and indeed many

of the women participating in this research tended to be isolated when they first arrived: initially

their world is often restricted to home and the Arbour. In this respect we can identify four factors

which have an impact on community leadership (Purdue et al. 2000: 4-5):

1. The external policy environment – in this case, family migration policies

2. The institutional arrangements and culture, e.g. Tower Hamlets council

3. The personal characteristics of a migrant (charisma, commitment, persuasion, ambition)

4. The local community – leaders rely on the local community for position, legitimacy, status

and support. Culturally proscribed gender roles would fall under this category.

Those individual, institutional and societal factors may support or inhibit activism: lack of accessible

information, inappropriate times for meetings and lack of childcare provision are some of the major

challenges for migrant women (Anastacio et al. 2000: 43). Other barriers may include (Blake et al.

2008: 31-32):

1. Personal barriers – lack of confidence, feelings of discomfort in formal meetings, difficulties

in the use of English

2. Socio-economic barriers

3. Motivational barriers

4. Barriers relating to legitimacy, recognition and acceptance

Less conventional types of participation such as involvement in informal support mechanisms, for

instance ‘neighbourliness’ (Goodlad 2005) should not be excluded from the analysis. Migrant women

are more likely to participate in such informal structures (McIlwaine and Bermudez 2011: 1500) as

research indicates that they feel more attached to their neighbourhoods but are also less inclined to

be actively engaged in politics (Devadason 2011). Varshney (2002) makes a useful distinction

between ‘everyday forms of civic engagement’ and ‘associational forms of civic engagement’:


‘Business associations, professional organisations, reading clubs, film clubs, sports clubs, festival organisations, trade unions and … political parties are some of the examples of [associational forms of engagement]. Everyday forms of engagement consist of such simple, routine interactions of life as families visiting each other, eating together often enough, jointly participating in festivals, and allowing their children to play together in the neighbourhood.’ (Varshney 2002: 3)

In order to capture this phenomenon of informality, it is useful to look at social capital theory which

recognizes that the relationships of everyday life between neighbours, colleagues and friends do

have value for the individual and for society as a whole (Gilchrist 2009: 8). Here social capital is

defined as a collective resource embedded in and released from informal networks (Lin 2002). Types

of social capital include neighbourhood attachment, social networks, and various forms of civic

participation in which migrant women get involved in, such as tenants’ or residents’ groups, religious

groups, parents’ associations, voluntary service groups, community group or women’s groups (Li,

Pickles and Savage 2005: 114).

Keeping a low profile in the community may be a strategic decision, a tactic adapted by women in

order not to overtly challenge patriarchal structures. On the other hand, it may also indicate lack of

confidence, or lack of opportunities, to enter the male-dominated political arena. Thus personal

empowerment which comprises developing self-confidence, encouraging involvement in the

community and developing the necessary knowledge and skills is a prerequisite to taking on

leadership roles (Barr and Hashagen 2000). Given the fact that migrant women need to overcome

obstacles such as communicating in a language which is not their mother tongue and understanding

a new cultural reality, confidence seems to be at the forefront of soft skills which they need to

acquire. What clearly delineates empowerment from leadership is the collective element of

leadership: community leaders are convenors of collaborative action, and community leadership is

about catalyzing the power of individuals to work collectively towards the changes they want to see

in their communities (Foster and Louie 2010: 2).

Nevertheless, the notion of social capital is what connects empowerment with leadership as

features of social life, namely networks, norms and trust, which all enable people to act together to

pursue their goals. In other words, it is social capital which facilitates collective action (Putnam 1994:

2). The implications of Putnam’s findings are of particular importance in studies on community

development in low-income communities (Gittell 1998: 125) because the strength of norms

embedded in community networks can counteract possible disadvantages associated with low socio-

economic background. Putnam (2000: 19) defines social capital as ‘connections among individuals’

and ‘social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them’. Joining

community organizations fosters trust in others and builds a sense of shared values which, in turn,

has positive effects on society such as creating group solidarity and civic culture (Morales and Giugni

2011: 267). More interestingly, for Putnam (2000), religion is one of the few remaining generators of

strong social connections, particularly amongst immigrant communities. The findings of this research

confirm the significance of faith-based organizations for Muslim migrant women in Tower Hamlets.

Social capital theory was applied in the study of the political integration of migrants by Fennema and

Tillie (1999 and 2001), who argued that ethnic social capital stems from participation in ethnic

associations based on ‘bonding’ between people who are similar. Bonding activities are a key tool in

empowering disadvantaged and marginalized groups and are also a prerequisite for ‘bridging’ that is


connecting with people who are of different backgrounds. Bonding social capital can promote

migrants’ integration because it constitutes an additional resource for generally less resourceful

groups (Portes and Sensenbrenner, 1993; Fennema and Tillie, 1999 and 2001; Tillie 2004; Jacobs et

al. 2004). More importantly, people who are confident in their community have a strong basis for

integration (Gilchrist, Wetherell, and Bowles 2010: 28). Hence respecting diversity and fostering

social cohesion go hand in hand: a multi-ethnic society must offer space to people associating on the

basis of a shared cultural identity. The third form of social interactions in social capital theory is

‘linking’, defined as creating ties between people without power with those in authority. Previous

work has shown that both ethnic and cross-ethnic organizations have an impact on political

participation (Berger et al., 2004; Eggert and Giugni, 2012; Jacobs et al., 2004; Tillie, 2004; Togeby,

2004) because voluntary associations in general create social trust which feeds into political trust

and hence triggers greater political participation.

All forms of social connections – social bridges, social bonds and social links - are part of a wider

integration framework (Ager and Strang 2004: 3), which also includes the following: markers and

means (employment, housing, education, health); facilitators (language and cultural knowledge,

safety and stability); and foundation (rights and citizenship). Integration can be analysed on four

different non-interdependent levels (Entzinger and Biezeveld 2003: 32-36):

1. Socio-economic integration - employment, income level, social security, level of education,

housing and segregation;

2. Cultural integration – attitude towards basic rules and norms of the host country; frequency

of contacts with host country and country of origin, language skills;

3. Legal and political integration – numbers naturalised or those who obtain a secure residence

status, numbers with dual citizenship, participation in politics and civil society;

4. Attitudes of recipient countries – reported cases of discrimination, perceptions of migrants

by the host society, incidence and effects of diversity policies, role of media.

This may seem obvious, but it is worth underlining that in order for newcomers to become both

socially and politically integrated, the duration of residence in the host country plays an important

role (Eggert and Giugni 2010: 182). The integration process takes time and can be affected and

supported by public policies but it can also happen organically (Entzinger and Biezeveld 2003: 44),

which tends to be overlooked when discussing social cohesion. According to Dr Nilufar Ahmed, a

cultural geographer, people can share their culture, food, and interact with each other even when

speaking very basic English. That convivial aspect of social inclusion is difficult to capture and

measure, but this does not mean it is not taking place.


4. Methodology

4.1 Research aims

The purpose of this research is to gain an insight into the levels of civic participation amongst newly

arrived migrant women, and to examine the barriers and opportunities for these women in taking on

leadership roles in the local community. In addition, the research aims to provide useful insights into

migrant women’s needs and experiences, and suggests good practice in supporting migrant women

on their journey to community leadership and towards social inclusion more generally.

The aims of the research are as follows:

To increase understanding of the needs and experiences of newly arrived migrant women in

Tower Hamlets;

To document good practice and inform future policy and delivery of services focusing on

developing leadership skills amongst newly arrived migrant women;

To create a springboard for action to improve the participation and engagement of migrant

women;

To contribute to the literature on migrant community leadership.

4.2 Research questions

To what extent are migrant women taking on leadership roles in the community?

What are the challenges and opportunities for migrant women to assume community

leadership roles?

For women in our target group to become more active in their local communities, what

conditions need to be created in the host community to enable wider community change?

This study focuses on the factors that facilitate and inhibit leadership potential amongst newly

arrived migrant women. It explores through qualitative research the relationships between the

experience of family migration, gender norms and community leadership. Like other qualitative

research studies, this research does not claim to be representative of all migrant women, because it

does not draw from a large sample of a given category of respondents, but instead seeks to acquire

in-depth insights into a smaller group of respondents.


5. Research Participants

A range of participants were consulted as part of this research.

All data collected from migrant women were from participants of the Lead to Inspire project at the

Arbour; in total 43 women took part in the research.

5.1 The profile of the Lead to inspire participants

Visa Category at commencement of course:

Country of origin:

Age:

family reunion

Tier 2 dependent

Dependent Leave to Remain

EEA family member

Residence card (family)

ILR

EEA family residence (ILR)

Spousal

Tier 1 Post study partner

Afghanistan Algeria Bangladesh Brazil China Egypt India Morocco Nigeria Pakistan Russia Somalia Sierra Leone South Africa Sudan Turkey Ukraine Yemen


5.2 Other contributors to the research

In addition there were also 16 key informants interviewed for the project, including an employee of

Tower Hamlets council; a female British Bengali councillor; a female British Bengali community

leader, and a Bengali female community worker; a female volunteer at East London Mosque; two

British Bengali women community workers; and 9 experts in the field who have worked on this topic,

among others, staff from Heba Women’s Project in Brick Lane and academics from Queen Mary

University and School of Oriental and African Studies. They were asked about their views on the

support that migrant women need to participate more actively in community life, attitudes of

different groups towards the idea of female leadership, and the link between political mobilization

on the basis of ethnicity/ religion and integration in wider society.

under 20 years old

20-24 years old

25 -29 years old

30-34 years old

35-39 years old

40-50 years old

over 50 years old


6. Research findings

The following research findings were collected across the first 12 months of the Lead to Inspire

project delivery and to some degree reflect the changes happening within the project. By the time

the first initial draft of the research project was ready; our work with migrant women leaders has

moved on and the participants were bringing new issues to the table. The decision was then made to

extend the research period and to widen the remit of this research. As result, additional interviews

and questionnaires were completed to reflect the experiences of the women and their journeys

towards community leadership.

6.1 Civic participation

Participants of the Lead to Inspire project were asked about their levels of civic participation; both in

their country of origin and in the UK. The assumption being that active participation in civic activities

is a first step in the community engagement and the future role migrant leadership might form.

For the purpose of this study we are mapping the following forms of civic engagement:

Being politically engaged (e.g. knowledgeable/active in local or national politics)

Involvement in community organisations (migrant/ human rights etc.)

Contacting a politician e.g. councillor or an MP

Getting involved in local decision-making processes and platforms e.g. attending

consultation events

Sitting on boards of associations

Engaging with specific causes affecting the local area (e.g. crime, pollution etc.)

Involvement in schools

Joining faith-based groups

6.1.1 Civic participating in the country of origin

There is clear evidence that migrant women who enrol on the Lead to Inspire project were largely

engaged in civic activities before they came to live in the UK. For many, being active meant being

involved in several organisations and active in a range of different ways. 14 participants of the Lead

to Inspire course took part in a survey during which they were asked to explore their civic

participation in their home country before arriving in the UK. 71% of women reported to be civically

active in their country of origin. This to some degree challenges the traditional perception of migrant

women coming to the UK on spousal visas in that the assumption by many is that these women

come from 3rd world countries where women are not allowed to actively participate in civic life and

therefore their understanding of democratic process and political life are non-existent.


Of the 71% of women reporting being civically active it is perhaps unsurprising that a large

proportion of respondents cite taking an active role in their own school or at their local educational

establishment. This is often due the fact that some of the women were teachers in their home

country or have been educated to degree status; which would have almost automatically led

towards their involvement in the promotion of education (in some form) in their local community.

Almost half (43%) of the women have reported to have been involved in community organisation in

their home country. From the personal stories of the women on the Lead to Inspire project we know

that almost all of the organisations they were involved in were local grassroots initiatives supporting

local people, addressing very specific problems faced by the community they lived or worked in.

Only 29% of the women have reported to have been involved in faith based groups. This is an

interesting statistic which gives us an insight into the women’s lives in their home country and the

choices they used to make within their own environment. When we look at this statistic more closely

and compare it to the number of women who identify themselves as having a faith - 85% ; we can

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Being politically engaged (e.g. knowledgeable/active in local or national

politics)

Involvement in community organisations



consultation events


Engaging with specific causes affecting the local area



Civic participation in country of origin

YES

NO


see that the women’s religious identity has relatively little impact on their choices of civic

participation and the way they choose to engage with the wider society. The reasons for this might

be many. One of the possible reasons could be the fact that in their own country their faith is part of

their cultural identity and does not necessarily form an important part of their everyday life.

As reasons for their civic participation in the country of origin the women have indicated that the

reasons were following. (Please note that we have pre-set the following option in order for us to be

able to analyse the data in addition to leaving it open for the participants to add additional

categories.)

All of the women who answered this question stated that there was more than one reason why they

have participated in civic activities in their home country, often being a combination of internal

(personal) and external reasons for their choices.

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%

I deeply care about local issues...

I was being affected by the issue.

It was part of my faith/ culture.

I was interested in the issue.

My family/friends were involved.

It was part of my work.

It was part of my studies.

Case study 7.1.1:

One of the research participants came to the UK from Bangladesh 2 years ago. In her home country she was a

medical surgeon who used to work in the local hospital. In her own time she volunteered for a local organisation

supporting women who were facing domestic violence and were victims of physical abuse. She would assist women

with free health checks and provide free medication. She is passionate about women’s rights and in Bangladesh she

was active in the local “feminist” movement.


6.1.2 Civic participation in the UK

The key to understanding the civic participation of the Lead To Inspire participants is the

understanding of the context in which some of the engagement happens. The Lead to Inspire project

actively promotes civic participation by migrant women and part of the course involves women in

activities which will lead them to visit their local MP, Parliament or to get involved in their local

community. This participation happens as part of the course with the aim to establish local links for

the women to engage beyond the life of the project. As the project is still on-going we have not been

able to establish or measure to which extent the women will continue and maintain their civic

engagement after they have completed their course or in the years following their initial contact. For

this reason it is important to see the following data as a snapshot in the life of the women.

All of the women (14) who took part in this part of the research have said that they have been

participated in civic activities since arriving in the UK.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Being politically engaged (e.g. knowledgeable/active in local or national

politics)

Involvement in community organisations (migrant/ human rights etc.)



consultation events


Engaging with specific causes affecting the local area



Civic participation in the UK

YES

NO


Close analysis of the data shows that the women have been involved in a wide range of activities

from being politically active (26%), sitting on board of associations (21%) to being involved in

community organisations (64%).

When we compare the level of participation of the sample group of women taking part in the Lead

to Inspire project with statistics available for the general public in England (source: Key Issues for the

New Parliament 2010 -House of Commons Library Research) less than 15% of British residents claim

to be involved in civic activism and 40% are involved in some form of civic participation.

It is clear that the sample group of migrant women in this research are more civically active than the

average person living in England. The reasons for their higher than average participation were:

Unsurprisingly the most reported reason (64%) for civic participation was the fact that the women

were required to take part as part of their course.

57% of the women felt that migrants need more information and support and this was their reason

for getting involved in civic participation. It clearly shows that migrant women are aware of their

own needs as well as the needs of other migrants within the wider British society and the need for

more support services and information for the greater engagement of migrant communities. This

awareness of migrant needs paired with their desire to make a difference in their community (21%)

makes them well positioned to become strongly engaged in British civic life and puts them in the

right place to (if wanted) to become leaders in their community.

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%

My family/friends were involved.

I was being affected by the issue.

It was part of my faith/ culture.

I deeply care about local issues...

It was part of my work.

I wanted to make difference in the local community.

My teacher told me about the opportunity.

I feel migrants need more information and support.

It was part of my studies.


It is interesting to note, that only 1 of the women who took part in civic activities did so because her

family or friends were involved. This clearly demonstrates the diversity of migrant women coming to

the UK on family reunification visas and is in stark contrast to research and perceptions that migrant

women are heavily influenced by their husbands and families.

In order to look at the journey travelled by the Lead to Inspire participants and the changes in their

civic participation in the country of origin and the UK we have compared the information provided.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80 %

Comparative data

home country

the UK

Case study 7.1.2:

As part of their Lead to Inspire course Group B (January – June 2013) the students took part in promoting the

Sustainable Communities Act in partnership with Unlock Democracy. Our participants were recruited because of their

ability to engage with the local community and to raise awareness of the Act in an accessible and active way reaching

many different groups of people in the Tower Hamlets borough. Participants facilitated a workshop to staff members

of The Arbour, engaged with door to door outreach in the local area as well as organised face to face outreach within

the Queen Mary’s University campus and local schools. They successfully ran a stall at the Women’s Environmental

Network’s Spring gathering and at a Diversity Day celebration at The Harford Street Centre. This successfully raised

awareness of the Act and resulted in many letters being signed to local councillors.

At the end the group decided to organise a meeting with the MP Rushanara Ali. This meeting was the final part of

their project but became more than that. It allowed women to engage with a sitting politician in Parliament outside

the wall of Westminster and it gave them an opportunity to raise local issues with their MP as a constituent with real

questions and issues, not only as someone on a course.


To a large degree the comparative data follows the same pattern, with only the data from the UK

exaggerated by participation in the Lead to inspire project. The two areas where there are significant

differences are: Getting involved in local decision making and Involvement in schools. The difference

in Getting involved in local decision making is most likely due to the fact that migrant women are still

in the process of understanding the formal and informal structures in place to make decisions within

their communities and local government. The same might be said about their engagement in local

schools as they do not have historical contacts with local schools and their own children are too

young to attend local primary or secondary schools.

The eminent question is: “Will migrant women from the Lead to Inspire project continue to be

engaged in civic participation after they have completed the course?” It is impossible to predict the

future and taking into consideration a range of pressures the migrant women are facing including

lack of government support, no social security or benefits, limited employment opportunities and

insecure immigration status if they leave their husbands, the picture becomes even more blurry.

However if we take the women’s civic participation in the country of origin as an indicator of their

future engagement in the UK paired with their high levels of motivation we can only assume that

this group of migrant women will be more civically engaged than the average member of public in

the UK.


6.2 Being a migrant woman leader

6.2.1 Being a leader

As the women are taking part in the leadership programme it is essential to explore their own views

of themselves as leaders in their own community and the wider British society.

The research participants were asked: “Do you see yourself as a leader in the community?”

Equal amount of women said yes or no (17%).

66% of the participants said that they were working towards it or hope to be leader in the future.

This positively reflects the women’s high expectations of themselves as leaders in a community

setting and their understanding of the journey they are on both in terms of their own integration,

understanding of the British society and skills needed to effectively lead within the migrant and

wider society.

Some of the Lead to Inspire participants comment and reflect on their journeys towards their role as a community leader:

17%

17%

66%

Yes

No

I am working towards being a leader in my community/ I hope to be a community leader in the future


“Yes, I am a leader. I communicate to the local people to attend the Arabic class. I am a facilitator and coordinator. I hope to lead something in the community in the next 3-5 years.” “I think a leader means to lead something to somewhere to achieve a goal.”

“I help my community to be a teacher.”

“I am working on being a community leader by starting voluntary work as a community

builder.”

“In the next 5 years I want to be guiding newly arrived migrant women.”

“In the next 3-5 years, if I’m still in the UK, I hope I can be a teacher or a mentor to support others. For me, being a leader doesn't only mean I am in charge of the team or community but also mean I need to make decision and take care of and manage people.”

“ I am a hard working member in the community. I really enjoy my role. I hope I might be a leader with fluent English speaking skill.”

6.2.2 Gendered leadership

‘Women are like plants, wherever you put it, you give water, it will

grow, it needs support.’ North African participant of Lead to Inspire

Migrant women acknowledged that they have a ‘duty in the society, not only in the family’:

‘In general, in Somali community women are always leaders, even if the father is there – you find women taking care of everything – maybe it is also in other cultures but for us it is really prominent because mothers are always there, they call them the spine of the family. Here there are mothers and grandmothers who are leaders teaching kids about their culture, teaching a group of youngsters about Islamic studies in the mosque.’ Somali participant of Lead to Inspire

Discussions relating to leadership styles often refer to gendered attributes. Female leadership tends

to be less formal, less visible and focused on issues which are traditionally seen as appropriate for

women. It is perceived as more of an ability to make things happen for other people as opposed to

doing something for oneself only; this form of ‘power with’:

‘I think women leadership is just not recognized, maybe it is not in your face.’ Sulthana Hussein, a British Bengali community worker

Whilst universally it has been recognised that there needs to be more female role models in the

wider society, it is even more important for newly arrived migrant women who are looking for

positive role models for themselves. The research participants were vague when asked about their

own role models. In most cases, they would mention someone from their own family, their mother

or an older sister. The same views are echoed in the input from second generation migrants who are

involved in local communities:


‘Role models need to be accessible, they inspire women. And I think role models are everywhere, my role model is my mum, it doesn’t have to be MP or councillor, it could be anyone, role model is not someone who made lots of money, a role model is a woman who came to this country, went through domestic violence, who got herself together with her 3 children, learned English, held on to her family, brought up her children, that take lots of strength, to me it is more admirable than earning lots of money and making a career without any responsibilities.’ British Bengali councillor ‘Religion played a big part for me, in my worldview and outlook on life because I always wanted to do something where... for me worshipping God comes first and religion is a massive part of why I do what I do. Because I believe that if you are able to help others, you are able to utilize the skills God gave you and can also do good, and that in turn pleases God and helps the community. So it is a big cycle of life in that sense. And it’s been my driving force, my passion to make change without compromising it.’ British Bengali community organizer

Therefore the notion of a leader needs to be redefined in order to be applicable to the lived

experience of migrant women from certain backgrounds. As pointed out by Nazia Hussein, of the

Open Society Foundation, ‘there is a western notion – and I’m using this term very loosely - that you

can only be a leader if you are very visible, if you are sort of out there, and you are representing –

and that undermines a role a person can play in their community.’ Official leadership seems to be

about men, but unofficial leadership, in terms of how communities function on the grassroots level,

is very much about women. According to Nazia Hussein, ‘mainstreaming the role of women in terms

of leadership is almost a kind of paternalistic approach’. We should therefore not impose what we

think leadership is - this should rather come from migrant women themselves. There are many

different ways of contributing to society and different legitimate ways of being a leader which can be

ignored:

‘Somali women in Tower Hamlets help the elderly, there are legal and educational advisers for children, they teach the Somali dances, but they are not prominent, they don’t show what they are doing, they are hidden and do things quietly. Women do those things quietly, they don’t show this.’ Somali participant of Lead to Inspire

Community leadership should therefore be defined as taking an action or taking a lead on an issue

that a person wants to change in their community as well as empowering others to step out and

take initiative themselves.

There is often a conflict in the way religion influences the way the women see female leadership

role. This perceived conflict echoes the current debates with the Muslim community regarding

feminism in Islam and gender roles assumed to be coming from Islam but actually are part of cultural

and ethnic practices.

‘My understanding of community leadership comes from my faith, women have a massive role to play as educators of the society, not only are you daughters, but also mothers, the core education of your child, male or female, comes from the mother, so if you are not


educated yourself, and you are not taking an active part in the society, then how can you expect your children to do that?’ British Bengali woman

‘The original community for a woman is her house, from the beginning, in our religion Islam, the woman is the first school, from her we learn, she teaches us the basis, and the condition for life, and we put ourselves in civil organizations, to show that women from all over the world they have got big power. But this power for men is less, in Islam men see women under him, he forgets that a woman is his mother, sister, wife, daughter, but Quran says paradise is under the feet of a mother, that is of a woman. We know that women educate their children, and it is a big role, it is a perfect role, it is positive in the society.’ North African participant of Lead to Inspire

Furthermore, during a discussion on the role of women in Islam, there were clear differences in the

way it was viewed by Bengali women and women from Arabic speaking countries, who due to their

fluency in Arabic, had extensive knowledge of Islam. Bengali women tended to interpret gender

roles in a more conservative manner, but could not always justify their position, whilst Arabic

speaking women challenged them, often by quoting the Quran.

‘Islam encourages women to be leaders, if you go back to history of Quran or hadith, you will find women leaders in medicine, even they used to be judges, so many men used to come and ask their opinion, and they used to give fatwas. Islam encourages women to become leaders because they understand very well what their community is.’ Somali participant of Lead to Inspire ‘In Islam, women can do everything – in Islamic history, you find women who used to give fatwas, like Aisha, she used to give fatwas, hundreds of men used to ask her questions about big big things, even sometimes politics, and she would answer them. And whatever she said, they would write it down. So our religion encourages us to go there, and do whatever is needed, change your community, study, work, be a good role model for yourself and for your children. But the whole purpose of Quran, the whole purpose of worshipping is to make the world a better place, build, teach, plant, if everyone takes that message, it is very clear and simple. ‘ Somali participant of Lead to Inspire

Culture, religion and socio-economic background tend to be conflated with each other and one

needs to untangle these intersections carefully instead of sweeping them aside. Furthermore,

cultures are dynamic and not static, reified entities, and undergo transformation, particularly in the

context of displacement. One of the participants on the Leadership course argued that religion can

be used to oppress women, but it can also be a tool to empower them. This is a very important point

as it opens up opportunities for women who are both deeply religious and who wish to engage in

the community.

6.3 Leadership in Action


In order to better understand migrant women’s leadership journeys and practicalities of their

leadership, we have analysed user-led projects delivered as part of the Lead to inspire course. We

have explored with the women the reasons behind some of the decisions made, what influenced

them and how their understanding of leadership has been shaped by these experiences.

User-led projects are the final part of the Lead to Inspire programme. It is an opportunity for

participants to reflect on their experiences so far and to put their leadership skills into practice

through the designing, researching, planning and delivery of a project that they feel passionately

about.

The process:

a) The participants are given a single briefing: The user-led must address an issue or problem in

the community. Before the start of the project the individuals or small groups have to

present a project proposal to a panel for approval, within the project proposal the need has

to be evidenced, a project plan needs to be provided and a budget needs to be submitted.

b) The design stage of the process offers migrant women the opportunity to experience group

work, negotiation, decision-making, co-operation and assertiveness within their peer group.

Before they start their user-led project they have received intensive training in these areas

but this is their first time to use their newly gained skills in practice. Some participants

struggle in a setting without a teacher figure to guide them and who would normally create

a safe space with clear definitions and rules and responsibilities. In addition social and

cultural difference play a role in the way women deal with the above situations.

c) Working in small groups forces the women to negotiate their roles within the team; raising

the question: “How do you run a project when everyone in the group is supposed to be a

leader?” Participants must reflect very honestly on their genuine leadership abilities, and act

accordingly. This is a challenging process, allowing emerging migrant women leaders to

acknowledge their strengths and areas where they still struggle. This process in not there to

put women in boxes, but serves as guidance and allows for a degree of measurement and

reflection – if they are shown to be weaker in one area they can choose to improve on it or

to let it go and focus on their other strengths.

d) Once projects aims and objectives have been agreed upon, and roles assigned, group

members can set about their individual or paired tasks. This can vary enormously. Some will

be responsible for researching community spaces in the local community, some will be

producing educational material, and some will be designing a leaflet for recruitment and

marketing purposes. Participants must manage their own time and communicate regularly –

what form this takes is up to them.

e) £500 budgets per user-led are given to assist the group’s objectives, although it should be

noted that these are hardly ever maximised to the full amount.

6.3.1 Reasons behind the choice of user led-project


In order for us to better understand what the motivations are behind the choices the women make

regarding their user-led project, we have surveyed 14 women who have completed their user-led

projects in 2013. Their reasons for choosing their project were:

28.6% of the women said that their main reason for choosing their particular user led project was

the fact that they wanted to know more about the community. This seems to be the highest

reported reason by the leadership women. The second (21.4%) most prevalent reasons were the

women wanting to help the migrant community and their desire to learn English.

There is clear desire by the women to better understand the host community and British society,

mixed with their wish to in some way contribute back with the aim of become socially included and

civically engaged.

6.3.2 Community context in which leadership occurs

I wanted to learn new skills

I wanted to help people

I think it would help my CV

I wanted to practice my IT skills

I wanted to help migrant community - someone in similar situation like mine

I wanted to learn more English

I wanted to know more about the community


When we analyse the beneficiaries of all (13) user-led projects delivered by the participants of the

Lead to Inspire project, there is a clear pattern with the main beneficiaries falling into the following

groups:

1. Mono ethnic migrant communities (where the audience/beneficiaries or intended recipient

is of the same background/culture as the developers)

2. Multi ethnic migrant communities (where the audience/beneficiaries is of a mix of migrant

members)

3. Host community (the audience/beneficiaries is considered settled in the UK)

In some user-led projects these beneficiaries’ categories have overlapped. In most cases this was not

the original intention but through development and delivery of the project other than intended

groups expressed their interest and desire to engage with the project

6.3.3 Leadership within mono-ethnic migrant communities setting

CHINA (Chinese Health Information N Advice)

Around 15% of user-led projects chose to focus on a mono-ethnic migrant community setting where

the intended audience or beneficiaries are predominantly made up of one single migrant group.

Reasons for this vary, but in most cases it is utilising similar experiences and addressing shared

barriers to integration. This can be highly advantageous to the group in question as all resources and

knowledge are ploughed into this particular group. Inevitably though, this idea in isolation cannot be

sustainable. Participants must be able to justify their decisions and show creativity in how a more

inclusive approach could be used in the future.

Chinese Health Information N Advice is an example of gaps in provision and knowledge and skills

that have been identified by two Chinese migrant participants through their own experiential

learning. In this project, participants have explicitly stated that they are using a perceived barrier of

English language as an advantage to something they can offer – Mandarin language to the Chinese

community. This shows an interesting arc of understanding of barriers, especially language.

Extract from proposal made by Lead to Inspire participants:

What is our aim? Our aim is to help the Chinese community in London understand the NHS services in the form of an easy-to-use leaflet

Provide information in Chinese on the NHS and procedure of using health services

Translate common illnesses, symptoms and medicine between English and Mandarin

Provide information on diabetes in English and Mandarin

Who are our target group? Mandarin speakers Why is this project helpful for the community? This project will help in the first instance, Chinese migrants who have migrated to the UK for work, studying or other reasons, but who have not had the chance yet to learn English. Secondly we hope that in the future this will be a project that can help inform policy. We believe it is important especially in London, to create a multilingual environment in every public service. And lastly we hope that this leaflet will be useful to GP’s and doctors so there are fewer problems in communication and understanding for both doctor and patient.


Why have you chosen this project? We have done this project for a couple of reasons. Number 1 is our own personal experiences of using the NHS. It has not been a positive experience. Additionally the Chinese section on the NHS website is not very good and is lacking very basic information. Number 2 is the continual growth of the Chinese population in the UK and finally we feel that this is something we can personally contribute in the UK. We are not fluent in English but we are in Mandarin and so we can use our strengths to do something for our community.

Findings:

Language barriers remain the number one reason cited by the migrant community of slowing down

the integration process. Participants in our research are likely to identify lack of proficiency in English

as the reason they struggle to find employment. What this particular user-led project shows is that

whilst language can be one of the barriers to successful integration more generally, it isn’t

necessarily a barrier to becoming a leader and pioneer of new services for the benefit of the

community. Creative thinking to overcoming perceived hurdles are one of the true marks of

leadership and what the Lead to Inspire project hopes to generate in the emerging community

leaders.

6.3.4 Leadership within multi ethnic migrant communities setting

Life in the UK preparation classes

The vast majority of user-led projects are designed for the benefit of multi-ethnic migrant

communities; recognising the shared experiences of migrant women and similar challenges faced

while trying to integrate in the UK. One of these projects is Life in the UK preparation classes,

highlighted in the following case study. In one light, this particular user-led could be seen as one of

the most successful user-led projects in terms of the sheer outputs it delivered on. An incredible 16

sessions over an 8 week period were delivered reaching an average of 21 migrant women

beneficiaries. (It is worth noting that in comparison, many traditional ESOL classes do not reach this

level of attendance commitment.) The retention of participants for the whole 16 sessions suggests

that the facilitators were able to produce an accessible and informative style of learning and were

addressing pressing need in the community. Additionally, a mere 50 leaflets were produced to

advertise this class, which again, is remarkable compared with traditional ESOL classes.

Context of the Life in the UK tests

Life in the UK preparation class user-led was designed as a response to stricter immigration controls

imposed by the coalition government (2012/3) which brought in new measures for non- EEA

migrants arriving in the UK on family route visas. From October 2013, anyone entering the UK that

wishes to apply for settlement on this route would have to show sufficient command of English –

speaking and listening (B1 CEFR/E3) and pass an online test to demonstrate knowledge of historical,

cultural, social and political systems in the UK.

Insecure immigration status restricts full participation and successful integration in the UK.

Additionally, from October 2013, migrants on spousal visas have seen an increase in the time they

must spend ‘in limbo’ (from 2years to 5 years). Migrants now must wait 5 years before they can

access public funds and resources – a measure that adds to the uncertainty and insecurity of making

a life for oneself in the UK. This step has received much press and media interest alongside the


introduction of the controversial Immigration Bill, which adds further hurdles and measures to

prohibit successful integration.

The gender dimension - these rules disproportionately affect women more than men as more

women make applications for spousal visas (The latest Migrant Observatory

(http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk) statistics show that over double the applications made

for spousal visas leading to settlement were made by wives or female partners (40,066), with

husbands or male partners at 19,590. (Figures from 2011 Family settlement in the UK, Migration

Observatory) This throws open a whole host of barriers and problems with increased pressure on

the family and financial constraints – domestic violence incidents can increase.

Life in the UK user-led project attempts to address the issue of increasing the knowledge and

confidence of women who have to sit this test. Currently there are very few classes of this nature in

Tower Hamlets, which signifies a gap in provision. Participant leaders set these classes up with a

more holistic approach – learning by grouping similar topics together (e.g. – function of parliament

and politics; NHS and health etc). The result was a more rounded learning experience with learners

acquiring knowledge through interacting with the material rather than just learning facts by heart.

This user-led demonstrates a willingness to engage with political issues head on. The leadership women were extremely successful in their recruitment of the wider migrant community (outside of their own ethic group), proving that there is a strong need for this classroom-based method of teaching. Extract from proposal made by Lead to Inspire participants

What is our aim? Our aim is to help the migrant women to get prepared for “Life in the U.K Test” • Teach women the main curriculum for the Life in the U.K test. • Make women feel more confident about taking the Life In The U.K Test” • Provide a space where women can practice Life in the U.K Test with support. • Give migrant women an opportunity to practice “Life in the U.K Test” on computers. Who are our target group? Our target group is newly arrived migrant women. Why is the project helpful for the community? The Life in the United Kingdom test is a computer-based test constituting one of the requirements for anyone seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK or naturalisation as a British citizen. It is meant to prove that the applicant has a sufficient knowledge of British life and sufficient proficiency in the English language. The test is a requirement under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. Why have you chosen this project? There are two reasons for choosing this project. First one is that this project is also helpful for ourselves, as we are also migrant women so we have to go through this test. So choosing this project will also give us an opportunity to be prepared for this test. Second reason is our interest to help the newly arrived migrant women. In our opinion these newly arrived migrant women are also badly in need to get preparation for this test because it is compulsory.

This particular user-led project demonstrates the importance of migrant women being active in their

own integration into the UK. It also demonstrates that migrant women are able to take on a highly

contentious issue such as immigration and ‘owning the process.’ Being active in their own learning

and integration elevates migrant women from the objects of study and discussion to the position of

active enablers with opinions and knowledge to share. Such a position is empowering as it is

http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/


desirable. That they can share this and disseminate their findings to their peers makes it all the more

remarkable.

“My user-led project really developed my leadership skills. Now I feel confident to speak in front of

students. Our project is really important for newly migrant women who want to get their Indefinite

Leave to Remain so our User-Led project benefited our community a lot.” Aneeta, project leader

Another incidental outcome of the Life in the UK preparation classes was the respect shown to the

two facilitators. There was much admiration that their peers could produce accessible information,

communicate it effectively and command the group with strong leadership skills. This is important

when it comes to how we, as a society view migrant women. It has demonstrated that migrant

women do not have to be the passive receptors of information – they can be the active enforcers

and the educators of their own and wider communities. As the comments below state, every single

beneficiary learnt something new that will aid them when they sit this test.

“I learn many new things about UK, its history, law etc. It is good. I like it because they [the teachers]

are friendly and helpful.”

“I learnt lots of things. I know lots of information about England. I enjoyed this session. It is good for

us and to attend more classes, then we learn more and understand better.”

“This class is important for our life. We enjoyed this class, every session is useful for our life. I want to

join in the new class.”

Findings:

Running a class called Life in the UK preparation classes sounds extremely daunting. More so, if you

don’t come from the UK. It would be interesting to investigate how many British-born nationals

would be willing to settle into Pakistan for example, and run classes on the historical, cultural, social

and political landscape of Pakistan and on top of this run the sessions in Urdu.

Needless to say the two facilitators spent a lot of time researching the questions, dividing them into

topics by subject and producing materials and paperwork to facilitate understanding for their

learners. This demonstrates an incredible amount of knowledge – both technical and practical.

Technical knowledge needs to be acquired to answer questions learners might bring to the session,

not only about the subject matter, but also about the immigration rules, booking the test, sourcing

test centres and the use of computers to aid recognition and familiarity of using computers (an issue

that the facilitators had identified before they began their sessions as a very real barrier to feelings

of confidence and fear surrounding the test). Some practical knowledge of physically running a

session had already been acquired through the Lead to Inspire course, but facilitators had to

consider other areas including: timetabling the sessions, photocopies of materials and hand-outs,

and monitoring progress of their learners. Essentially, here were two migrant women running

educational classes for their peers, and yet the group could have included anyone and could have

been on any given subject and most importantly they were doing it extremely well.

6.3.5 Leadership in a wider community sessions


Parents Play and Share user-led project

Finally, the third group of beneficiaries make up the wider community – which could be a mix of

both the migrant and host community (where host community denotes those who consider

themselves settled in the UK). In many ways this is a tricky audience as many migrant women do not

have experience of the host community and do not know whether their ideas, opinions and indeed,

they themselves will be accepted. By and large, these fears have remained unfounded with projects

that address the wider community being accepted as readily as those that are designed for the

immediate migrant communities.

The case study we have chosen to look at in more depth is ‘Parents Play and Share’ This was

conceived, designed and delivered by just one woman from Sierra Leone. It was her intention to

address the need for more community spaces for mothers to spend time with their children in a

relaxed and playful way. She identified that after early years when children start school, parents and

children lose their ‘play time’ together and the relationship becomes largely centred around

discipline in the home context and children see their parents as authoritarian figures.

As a mum to 2 young children, the project lead of Parents Play and Share lamented this situation and

joined forces with PATH (Play Association Tower Hamlets) to address this issue and ran after-school

sessions for parents and children. Sessions focused on cooking, arts and crafts, reading and

imaginative play. Sessions were open to anyone with a child of school years. Her decision to open

this to the wider community shows an acknowledgment to this issue as not just a ‘migrant problem’

but as a challenge for all parents regardless of background. She identified that motherhood creates a

shared experience for women of all nationalities and that by forming a self-supporting group;

mothers can open up and feel comfortable in discussing some of the more challenging aspects of

being a parent.

“‘It’s really important that children learn how to play with one another, and in a big city like London simple things like play areas are increasingly forgotten about. Other people pass by and see all the families playing together and it sends a great message to the community.’” Julia, Local Parent

“Here people can socialise with kids from different cultures and backgrounds, and we all do

different activities each week. It’s really great during the holidays and all the volunteers are

so kind” Jehona, Local Parent

Extract from proposal made by Lead to Inspire participants

What is our aim?

To build and maintain effective relationships between parents

To create a safe space for parents to interact and play with their children

To meet and share skills and ideas with others

To create a warm, safe atmosphere for people Who are the target group?


Local parents and their children Why is the project helpful to the community? I grew up in Sierra Leone where life was very different to London. Here, everyone is very busy and as a working parent it can be very hard to make friends and find support. I wanted to create a project for parents with young children in my local community to come together and support each other whilst sharing their ideas. The “sharing” is the most important part, I didn’t want to “teach” skills, I want to empower the community as a whole by creating a link that allows the dissemination of skills and information between family members and friends to flow freely. Why have you chosen this project? I chose this project because I am a parent of two young children. My vision is a place where you can share your problems and experiences in an active way this means loving, friendly, and creative not just going there to sit down but through providing activities to stimulate sharing. So people will caring for one another in the community and learn new skills as one.

Findings:

Parents Play and Share is an excellent example of a self-supporting group. It takes motherhood as a

shared experience and creates a space for it in a grassroots setting. There is no complicated agenda,

only a space for other mums and children to meet each other in a safe and supported environment.

The user-led projects were initially conceived to allow migrant women put their leadership skills into practice and there was a big emphasis on group work and the skills, knowledge and attitude to be effective in group work. The leadership skills demonstrated in Parents Play and Share is drawing upon outside resources when needed to support the aims of the project. The project lead demonstrated this when involving PATH to assist her in her objectives in the areas of play expertise, materials and venue space. The ability to successfully negotiate with external providers to get what you want is certainly a useful skill and one that is in high demand amongst both employers and the community.

6.3.6 Approaches to community development

When we further analyse all the user-led projects, a pattern of approaches used to deliver

community development appear. These are:

i) Fill a gap in provision

ii) Educate by increasing knowledge and skills

iii) Self supporting groups) and project which address different beneficiaries.

Gaps in provision:

The majority of the 13 user-led projects delivered have been intended for the migrant community.

This would seem to demonstrate that participants feel a great need to ‘serve’ their own community.

Many gaps that participants observed were through their own experiences of being a migrant

woman and coming to the UK – many cited a lack of information and advice which is a recurring

theme throughout the subsequent projects. The Chinese Health Information N Advice leaflet, for

example, has been designed by two Chinese participants who felt their own lack of understanding at

navigating the NHS and health system in the UK was certainly something that other Mandarin-

speaking migrants felt.

Forming self-supporting groups


Other user-led projects focused on the formation of self-supporting groups. For example, Migrant

Mother’s Forum was a weekly meeting for local migrant mothers to meet up at a local school to

discuss parenting and to meet other mothers in similar situations. Participants have rated ‘Being a

good mother’ as an issue that is of extreme importance to them and they understand the social and

cultural relevance it will have to other migrant women in the community. Again, as demonstrated in

the Arabic classes – the goal is not learn Arabic and speak the Qu’ran fluently, but to form a

woman’s space – a safe space where woman can come together and share their problems –

identified as something that women do very informally anyway.

Increasing skills and knowledge

The majority of projects however, were undertaken by participants who felt confident to ‘pass on’

information, skills and knowledge. This is unsurprising when considering the aim of most Lead to

Inspire participants is to become teachers and mentors and see the role of a leader as someone who

‘guides and helps others’. This translates to teaching in its most basic form.

Projects such as Computer Revolution – designed to increase the computer literacy of migrant

women and Life in the UK preparation classes – designed to prepare women for the real test, are

examples of women physically delivering information to others in order to inform and educate them.

As participants have stated in our research, their main reason for becoming involved in civic

participation was that it was part of their studies. Therefore, it is quite natural that participants

believe that skills are built and developed; knowledge is gained and learnt in classroom settings

delivered by a suitably qualified and experienced teacher. In this case, there is type of role-

modelling happening. Migrant women are teaching other migrant women – not just for the sake of

imparting knowledge – but are acting as role models to show that migrants can help themselves and

are not solely dependent on the host community.


7. Conclusions

This research demonstrates that migrant women do have the necessary skills and abilities to take on

leadership roles within a British context as demonstrated through the user-led projects. However,

this leadership takes place within the context of a structured course and is an integral part of their

training in community leadership.

The question remains (and this research is unable to answer it as insufficient time has passed since

the women completed the Lead to Inspire course), will the Lead to Inspire participants continue in

their leadership roles outside and beyond the framework of their course?

Early indications show that the women would like to continue to be civically active, within their

communities and some of the examples given are: interest in volunteering with other 3rd sector

organisations and the re-shaping of some of the user-led projects to be further developed to a wider

audience. However we need to be realistic of the realities of migrant women’s lives and the

pressures placed upon them.

Lack of information on where to seek help further contributes to the vulnerability of some migrants;

information provision must be significantly improved, and different actors such as the local council

and community centres should work together to develop more effective outreach strategies to reach

women in this target group.. In order to facilitate social inclusion in the local community, ESOL

provision should be made more accessible and converting overseas qualifications needs to be easier.

Migrant women need to be made more aware of the skills that they have, and the ways in which

Western society is changing in terms of valuing women’s qualities and contributions. Also, existing

civil society organizations and policy makers should strive to include voices of migrant women

because it is they themselves who are experts on what drives their own communities.

Community centres and other civil society organisations play a huge role in facilitating the process of

migrant integration, and this needs greater recognition: central government, local authorities and

charitable funders need to make better efforts not only to protect them from funding cuts, but also

to invest more in those offering innovative integration initiatives for migrant women.

Integration needs to be understood as a complex phenomenon involving more than just language

acquisition. The leadership development model pioneered at the Arbour looks at integration in a

more holistic way by empowering participants to become active citizens in their communities. The

Leadership course at the Arbour was conceived as a reaction and solution to the lack of visible

migrant women in leadership positions, and it is focused on developing skills for future leaders. This

involves different stages, and different skills, on the journey from empowerment to leadership. In

that sense, the course is a stepping stone, and with its emphasis on user-led projects and community

outreach it invests heavily in the capacity development of its beneficiaries. Whilst the Leadership

course at the Arbour works to boost the confidence of participants and to develop their leadership

skills, at a later stage these attributes need to be taken to another level. A wide range of

opportunities need to be available within the third sector to allow migrant women to continue to

develop and expand their leadership potential and to make a positive contribution to the wider

British society.


Questions such as ‘can everyone become a leader’ may remain unanswered but there should be

structures in place which allow migrant women to take on leadership roles which are in line with

their cultural identity, religious beliefs and social background. The women-only environment of

Women’s Services at the Arbour proves to be effective in supporting the initial introduction of

migrant women to British society. However, discussions on leadership need to be more inclusive and

incorporate non-western ideas on how women, and in particular Muslim women, can contribute to

the community. This approach will have to guard itself from charges of seeing culture as a prison,

and this research calls for recognition of the diversity within Muslim cultures. At the same time, we

need to work with people as they are – to ‘work with the grain’ (Hallsworth et al. 2010) – rather than

expect migrant women to live up to our expectations of what it means to be a ‘community leader’.

There is a need for more research on men’s understanding of gender and leadership because

without their support for the idea of female leadership, many of the challenges that exist for women

will remain. This is an ambitious task, which involves addressing the intersection of gender, culture,

religion and class in the context of a complex web of family structures, immigration policies and

integration processes.


8. Recommendations

1. It is important that the ESOL providers recognise the shift in the migration pattern in terms of

the increasing diversity of migrant women arriving to the UK on family reunion and spousal

visas. There has to be a new process by which migrant women’s leadership potential or relevant

experiences from their country of origin are recognised regardless of their English language

ability. More in-depth screening needs to be developed by ESOL providers to assess migrant

women’s potential that goes beyond traditional ESOL assessment.

2. Migrant women who demonstrate leadership potential and experiences that could be harnessed

to develop a new generation of emerging grassroots community leaders need to be provided

with a support package. This will help them to further develop their skills and gives them the

understanding of the appropriate avenues/routes available for further opportunities to

contribute to localised solutions for current challenges faced by communities across the UK.

3. A structured mentoring scheme should be set up to support emerging migrant women leaders

that would provide newly arrived migrant women with 1:1 mentoring and coaching in regards to

active civic participation and community mobilisation. Female leaders and professionals working

for 3rd sector organisations might be best placed to provide this support.

4. Leadership needs to be made accessible to migrant women. Those lobbying on behalf of migrant

issues or women issues should work with migrant women to led them to re-define “migrant

women’s leadership” as traditional definitions and leadership roles might not apply to. Concepts

of gendered leadership and feminism are often far too complex and abstract for leaders

concerned with “practical” changes needed to improve the quality of life for migrant women.

5. Actors need to make better use of the talent and skills of migrant women and find more

appropriate ways to engage migrant women in debates about issues concerning their future.

There needs to be a more creative way to conduct consultation than the traditional meetings

which are intimidating to anyone whose English is not perfect and are often dominated by the

few who understand the process well.

6. Policymakers should strive to better include the voices of migrant women as part of improving

their consultation with migrant communities in relation to strategies for promoting social

inclusion.


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http://www.irr.org.uk/news/britains-shame-from-multiculturalism-to-nativism/


Appendix A

The Role of the Arbour

The Arbour’s Lead to Inspire project can be seen as a unique opportunity for newly arrived migrant

women in the context of many of the challenges. Community centres such as the Arbour play an

important role in social bridging by providing spaces for women from different ethnic, religious and

social backgrounds to interact with each other and build friendships which cross those boundaries.

For many migrant women the Arbour has been the only opportunity to socialize with people outside

of their family networks.

For many service users of the Arbour who are migrant women, their early experiences of settling in

to life in the UK are dominated by feelings of isolation and loneliness, due to having left their

families and friends in their home countries. The findings from the research activities conducted

with ESOL participants outlined earlier in this paper confirm reports from women on the Leadership

course that before they come to the Arbour their UK-based social networks are extremely limited

beyond those involving their husband’s family. Many of our participants also claim that before they

accessed the project, they spent a large proportion of their time being relatively inactive and

remaining in the home.

Participants of the Lead to Inspire course often mention that participating in the project has changed

the pattern of their lives for the better. The course provides women with a much-needed

opportunity to develop friendships with other newly arrived migrant women as well as become

more active outside of the home. This extension of the social network of participants and the knock-

on effect it has on their social inclusion is a crucial factor in enabling newly arrived migrant women

not only to develop new friends to support each other through the experience of settling in to life in

a new country, but also to develop a sense of belonging in the UK. The Arbour promotes both social

bonding and bridging, especially for those women who do not have any relatives in the UK, and are

very isolated:

‘If a problem happens to me, I hurry to Arbour, because I don’t know any community, only Arbour,

and I’m sure they will help me. If I have a problem, I’m talking with my teachers, and I want to show

my problem to all other leaders in the class, they know my problem, and one day, maybe they have

the same problem, and I want them to know the results. I only know Arbour, I’m like a clock, home

and Arbour, Arbour and home, I want to know more and more, and know more communities to

progress my situation, and to know more different people.’ North African participant of Lead to

Inspire

‘In Bangladesh I was with my family but here I’m trying to make friends for myself, I’m trying, being

an introvert person, sometimes I feel scared. Now I’m telling you a lot and I’m feeling better – maybe

I was under pressure and now some pressure is gone. In our community we can’t share problems

with others, it is our culture, it is shame. I am fine but sometimes my husband is too busy, he has no

time to share with me, and sometimes I’m feeling very lonely, when my husband is tired he doesn’t


even have time to talk, that time I feel upset, but I can’t share it. Also, sharing means advice, if I don’t

share it with you, how can I get advice?’ Bengali participant of Lead to Inspire

‘I love everyone in this group, but in particular I love my two Muslim friends who are so straight and

who love me for who I am – before I didn’t like Muslims because... they didn’t shake my hand, they

would put gloves – as if I was on the lower level, and the Muslims were on the upper level – and

those Muslim friends in the class, they hug me, they eat food with me, and now I change the views

that people in my community have about Muslims – about Muslim women who are covered, I say she

wants to be beautiful for her husband, don’t judge her – maybe she is praying five times a day, and

you don’t pray at all.’ Latin American participant of Lead to Inspire

Participants of the Leadership course praised work done at the Arbour, and were thankful for the

opportunities the centre provided for them:

‘Sometimes we can’t explain ourselves, and sometimes we don’t get the right things what we have to

do. We need a helping hand. And I will remember Arbour for that. Because before I can’t face

anybody, my listening was not good, when someone asked me something, I became scared, but now

I try to understand others, and if I have no answer, I tell them I don’t understand. And if I go to GP or

midwife, I understand them, and I can answer, so it is really important to express ourselves.’

Bengali participant of Lead to Inspire

‘This leadership course has a positive impact on me, at the beginning I had no interest to do

anything, because I don’t know any person, except of my husband, but if you get involved in this

community, there is lots of scope, lots of opportunity. I think it is important that someone gets

involved in a course from the beginning. Because if you do this course, then you can learn about

other courses, like ESOL. But if you are sitting at home, you are in a blind spot. So if you are here, you

know about different scopes, different opportunities I think.’ Bengali participant of Lead to Inspire

‘So when I came here, I thought, what can I do, no, I mustn’t be blocked in the house, I must change

my life, and I found the Arbour like a big window for every immigrant in here. We must discover the

world, and we need to learn more and more. For me my English is not very good, but I want to speak

very good, and I want to understand others, this is my point to come to the Arbour. I’m a little

member here, but all teachers help us, I never see racism here, all women is respected here, without

speaking about religion, race, colour, here I saw equality.’ North African participant of Lead to Inspire

For many participants the Arbour is intially the only place where they regularly go, and is their first

step to towards meeting people from different backgrounds , and starting to build relationships of

trust with people outside of their families.

‘Here there are ladies from different countries, they speak different languages, but we are a

community, and united, and we all talk global language, English. And every lady has got her dream.

By communication, we know each other, and we know our problems, and we learned by Arbour. So

thank you Arbour, you play nice role in my life, you let me solve some problems.’ North African

participant of Lead to Inspire


The Arbour plays a very important role in supporting migrant women to adapt to British society, and

helping them find their way of fitting into it.

Building self-esteem is another important role played by community centres, and is an element of

personal development which can contribute to the integration process as it can lead to a sense of

control over the new cultural reality. That sense of control takes time to develop. Very different skills

are needed for this to happen, and include language skills, understanding work culture in a host

country, familiarizing with services etc. According to Anne Wilding, the director of Heba Women’s

Project, voluntary organizations working with migrant women are trying to do two jobs, not only

actual training, but also putting women psychologically in a position where the training can be

beneficial to them, because ‘there is no good in feeding someone who’s got her mouth shut’.

‘I learnt many things, like I never got outside with other people, or talk in front of other people,

because before I was so scared , I couldn’t do it because I was so shy but now I can do it, I can speak

to other people, and I became more confident.’ Bengali participant of Lead to Inspire

Migrant women’s confidence can also be enhanced once they get to know London and understand

the public transport network. As part of the Leadership course at the Arbour, participants go to field

trips which allow them to familiarize themselves with parts of London they have never visited

outside of their local area, sometimes simply because of not having anyone to visit them with. Going

to museums, parks, the House of Parliament or visiting other community organizations also allows

them to understand the complexities of life in a multi-ethnic city.

‘At the Arbour they let me discover some palaces I never went to, I never go to museum here, and I’m

lucky, when I told my husband I went to National Portrait gallery, he is jealous, I’m a citizen here and

I never go to this gallery, you are very lucky. And I also went to a Hindu temple. They open a good

opportunity for us to become a good leader.’ North African participant of Lead to Inspire

‘Now when I found friends, I’m feeling comfortable here, I’m not embarrassing, even I can travel

inside London alone, without my husband. If I didn’t come here, I think it is impossible for me.’

Bengali participant of Lead to Inspire

‘I’ve changed myself a lot, when I came here I was afraid to go out, but now when I know the places I

can go by myself, I’m finding activities for myself now, and I know I will be safe, even without my

husband.’ Pakistani participant of Lead to Inspire

The Arbour’s model of leadership development amongst migrant women focuses on both leadership

and integration, by providing opportunities for different forms of civic participation. Civic

participation requires a set of individual resources including time, income, education, experience,

immigrant status and social capital, as well as societal opportunity structure. For that reason it is

useful to conceptualize leadership development amongst migrant women as a journey which

involves taking small steps at a time, as a person progresses through the integration process.

The extent to which each participant is able to develop into a community leader depends on both

their level of integration and their leadership skills. The figure below provides a model for

developing leadership potential, showing how levels of integration and leadership skills can affect

leadership potential.


Appendix B

The Arbour’s Model of leadership

development

As part of its Women’s Services, the Arbour runs the Lead to Inspire project, a leadership course

aimed at newly arrived women who are third country nationals admitted to the UK with a visa

category that lead to settlement. Participants of the Lead to Inspire course at the Arbour form a

significant proportion of the participants involved in this research. The majority of participants on

the Lead to Inspire project are young women from a range of countries in Asia, the Middle East and

Africa, have been in the UK less than 5 years, and come to the UK to join spouses.

The project seeks to increase the social inclusion of migrant women and empowers them to act as

leaders and peer mentors within their local communities. It is designed to equip participants with

the English language skills needed to settle in the UK, IT skills, and the necessary community

leadership skills to undertake community outreach and user-led projects. The course also provides

opportunities for the participants to improve access to further education, enhance their

employability skills, increase their access to local services, and learn more about how to fulfil their

potential in multicultural Britain.

The Arbour’s Lead to Inspire project is an intensive course of 6 months, 3 days a week for 5 hours a

day. The Arbour’s innovative model of leadership development is based on a combination of existing

theories and new methodologies tailored to the specific needs of newly arrived migrant women.

The structure of our leadership training programme is divided into five modules, which are Know

Yourself, Be Yourself, Look After Yourself, Be Active and Take Action. The first 3 of these modules are

based on the model of leadership development generated by the Clore Social Leadership

Programme,1 which aims to provide pioneering leaders in the social sector with the skills and

opportunities to create social change in local communities, organisations and the world around

them.

Personal development programme

The first 3 months of the Lead to Inspire project consist of a personal development programme of

input sessions designed to support the development of a wide range of skills.

Leadership training: The aim of the leadership training is to develop skills essential for emerging

community leaders. The leadership classes focus on skills such as assertiveness, debating, active

listening skills, presentation skills, negotiating, and many others. There is a strong emphasis on

personal development, and participants are supported to develop a greater sense of their own

identity, how to undertake goal-setting in order to achieve their future personal plans, as well as an

awareness of their strengths and weaknesses. Part of the leadership training involves exposure to a

1 For more information on the Clore Social Leadership Programme, please see

http://www.cloresocialleadership.org.uk/Framework.aspx

http://www.cloresocialleadership.org.uk/Framework.aspx


variety of guest speakers which are invited to visit participants as positive role models and to share

their inspirational stories of being successful women leaders in their own fields.

English language development: The project was designed to develop the functional English language

skills necessary to navigate different areas of leadership, and to allow our participants to acquire the

kind of English language useful for communication in everyday life, rather than the very often

theoretical knowledge similar to that taught to many students learning English as a foreign language.

They learn how to communicate with a range of stakeholders, including speaking, listening, reading

and writing skills which help them participate more actively in wider society. The fact that

participants are immersed in a course which consists of 15 hours a week in a context where only

English is spoken also contributes to a very steep learning curve for participants.

IT sessions: IT sessions are delivered to develop the IT skills of participants. Participants have a

variety of different levels of computer literacy depending on their education in their home country,

and the sessions are adapted to ensure they meet the levels of all participants regardless of ability.

Field trips: The weekly field trip sessions aim to expose participants to different leisure activities,

services and cultural institutions and other opportunities which the participants might not normally

access of their own accord. By visiting places of interest across London, participants develop

practical life such as learning how to navigate the transport system; developing knowledge and

understanding of life in the UK; and increasing participation in various aspects of cultural life.

Call-to-action programme

After the first three months of classroom-based input sessions, the course is structured around

providing opportunities for participants to take more concrete actions by taking part in community

engagement in a more active way and putting the skills they have acquired so far into practice in the

wider community.

Peer-to-peer mentoring: The project also includes a peer-mentoring scheme designed for

participants to understand the often complex needs of other newly-arrived migrant women in the

UK. Participants received mentoring training, and are then matched with other newly arrived

migrant women taking part in ESOL classes. By practicing the English language, and sharing

experiences, skills and knowledge with their mentees, the mentors gain the valuable experience of

guiding another woman through some of the integration challenges they might be facing in the UK.

Community outreach: Participants take part in ‘community outreach’, when the Arbours partners

with another local organisation to provide participants with the opportunity to become community

outreach workers. Participants work alongside the partner organisation to help deliver their

objectives and contribute to the promotion of a social cause which brings benefit to the wider

community. The organisations which we have worked with to date are often interested in working

with Arbour participants as they are struggling to effectively engage migrant communities in their

services. The participants are then supported to become community outreach workers and through

a variety of outreach techniques, gain experience in how to engage the local community in the

partner organisations’ programmes.


User-led projects: The final section of the course is when participants are encouraged to take the

next step in their journeys to become community leaders by developing their own user-led project.

This is where participants identify an issue in their local community that they feel passionately

about, and develop, plan and run their own projects independently. By taking part in a ‘viva voce’,

participants have to defend the rationale behind their project, provide evidence that it is based on a

genuine need within the community, outline which methods they will use to recruit participants, and

demonstrate that they have considered all logistical factors such as a space in which to carry out

their project, the timing, and which equipment they will need to deliver the project.

Principles of the Arbour’s model for delivery of Lead to Inspire:

Evidence-based approach: The project uses a range of evidence-based approaches and builds on existing initiatives that are proving successful, avoiding duplication of what already exists.

Innovation: Where there is no proven track record or existing research to draw on, we innovate.

Quality teaching: We employ qualified, experienced facilitators who have the necessary passion and enthusiasm to bring the best out of our participants.

Women-only services: All of our participants and staff are female, because we recognise the need for women –only safe spaces where participants can feel comfortable to explore their identity and learn together.

Flexible programmes that suit all levels and needs: We aim to tailor every aspect of the programme to the specific needs of participants and provide them with the skills, knowledge and experiences that meet their requirements.

Diversity: Our commitment to creating a diverse environment, including participants, staff and volunteers, create opportunities for cross-cultural learning and integration.

Free of charge: All our courses are free of charge for eligible participants as we recognise the importance of creating equal opportunities for all women in our target group.

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