International migration is a diverse and complex phenomenon. One of its contemporary
features is temporariness. Contemporary migration includes millions of shortterm
migrants involved with global working life, such as expatriates and their family
members (see, e.g., Ward & Kagitcibasi 2010). An expatriate is defined in this research
as an employee working temporarily abroad. Due to globalization, the number of internationally
mobile employees has increased worldwide (see, e.g., Warinowski 2011a).
As work goes global, more expatriates and their families are in transitions, either in
expatriation or repatriation.
This chapter discusses a study (see Warinowski 2012) that examined the consequences
of a global working life and international mobility in the lives of children of
Finnish expatriates. The study investigates expatriation and repatriation, caused by a
parent’s global work, as cultural transitions for the children. My aim in the study is to
understand the construction of children’s experiences in those cultural transitions.
Thus, this chapter contributes to migration research, childhood studies, and studies
on multicultural education.