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Book part
Publication date: 10 August 2017

Jacob Chao-Lun Huang

Since health behaviors of elderly Asian Americans are often underreported, the study, based on the health behavioral model (Andersen’s model), was to examine if there is a…

Abstract

Since health behaviors of elderly Asian Americans are often underreported, the study, based on the health behavioral model (Andersen’s model), was to examine if there is a reciprocal relationship between healthcare utilization and health outcomes, and how social characteristics play their role in this relationship between US-born and foreign-born elderly Asian Americans.

Using structural equation modeling, this research examined the proposed hypotheses which consisted of direct and indirect effects among health outcomes, healthcare utilization and social characteristics, as well as the disparities of the effects between US-born and foreign-born elderly Asian Americans (65 + ). A sample size of elderly Asian Americans was divided into a US-born group (N = 1,305) and a foreign-born group (N = 4,902) from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 1998–2012. Health outcomes consisted of current health status and health change. Healthcare utilization included general doctor visit, ER, and mental health professional visit. Social characteristics of population included predisposing characteristics (such as age, sex, marital status, and region of residency) and enabling resources (such as education, family size, and family income).

Results from the study indicated that first, there was a reciprocal relationship between health outcomes and healthcare utilization for both groups. Second, predisposing characteristics had a direct effect on health outcomes, and enabling resources had an indirect effect on health outcomes via healthcare utilization. In addition, living in the West had both direct and indirect effects on health outcomes. Third, regarding disparities of the effects between both groups, the US-born elderly are more likely to attain health benefits from healthcare utilization and their social characteristics than the foreign-born. As a result, the interactive relationship between health outcomes, healthcare utilization, and social characteristics, as well as disparities of healthcare outcomes through health utilization and social characteristics for elderly Asian Americans is highlighted.

First, due to the design of NHIS, this research was limited to fully present the needs and more characteristics of elderly Asian Americans. This shows the great need for a large scale, representative study for health behaviors of elderly Asian Americans. Second, in the dataset, the study was limited to explore health behaviors of elderly Asian Americans into each Asian ethnic subgroup. Since the culture of Asian Americans is heterogeneous, it is recommended that future research can explore differences and commonalities of the health behaviors between Asian subgroups. Third, based on the health behavioral model and the design of the dataset, this study was limited to illustrate variations of life experiences between both groups. These differences regarding their needs and desires for healthcare services and health outcomes can become an important foundation for service providers and policy makers to provide appropriate services that improve the quality of the later lives of elderly Asian Americans.

First, the study applied the health behavioral model and proved that the effect of healthcare utilization and social characteristics on health outcomes is greater for the US-born elderly Asian Americans than for the foreign-born. Second, this study confirmed that the healthcare services in US society are still beneficial for the health outcomes of elderly Asian Americans. Third, the study found that when family is used to explain the social behaviors of elderly Asian Americans, researchers need to be more careful to identify various family factors in accordance to its dynamics, such as interpersonal relationship, material supply, and emotional support.

Details

Health and Health Care Concerns Among Women and Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-150-8

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Article
Publication date: 17 July 2018

Alexia Polillo, Nick Kerman, John Sylvestre, Catherine M. Lee and Tim Aubry

Foreign-born families face challenges following migration to Canada that may impact their well-being and lead them to homelessness. Yet, there is limited research on the…

Abstract

Purpose

Foreign-born families face challenges following migration to Canada that may impact their well-being and lead them to homelessness. Yet, there is limited research on the experience of homelessness in this population. The purpose of this paper is to examine the health of foreign-born families staying in the emergency shelter system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and compare their experiences to Canadian-born homeless families who are also living in shelters.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews were conducted with 75 adult heads of families who were residing in three family shelters. This study focused on mental and physical health functioning, chronic medical conditions, access to care and diagnoses of mental disorders.

Findings

Foreign-born heads of families reported better mental health than did Canadian-born heads of families with a significantly lower proportion of foreign-born participants reporting having been diagnosed with a mental disorder. Foreign-born heads of families also reported fewer chronic medical conditions than did Canadian-born heads of families.

Research limitations/implications

This study relied on self-reported health and access to healthcare services. Data were drawn from a small, non-random sample.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first studies to examine the health and well-being of homeless foreign-born heads of families. Moreover, this paper also focuses on disparities in health, diagnoses of mental disorders, and access to healthcare services between foreign-born and Canadian-born families – a comparison that has not been captured in the existing literature.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

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Book part
Publication date: 10 July 2014

Ya’arit Bokek-Cohen and Nitza Davidovitch

Most studies of foreign-born faculty have documented various difficulties in their careers in academic institutions. This chapter offers data regarding the successful careers of…

Abstract

Most studies of foreign-born faculty have documented various difficulties in their careers in academic institutions. This chapter offers data regarding the successful careers of foreign-born faculty in the Israeli academic world and identifies the factors that contributed to this success. Our data are based on several measures for success of foreign-born faculty in the studied institution. A statistical analysis was performed in order to examine to what degree scoring on various excellence criteria distinguishes between foreign- and native-born faculty. The research reveals that foreign-born faculty have succeeded in reaching impressive academic achievements. Five complementary explanations for the successful integration are presented, with the most crucial being in-group ethno-cultural similarity of faculty who immigrated from the same country. We conclude by discussing managerial implications for the successful integration of foreign-born faculty in higher education institutions.

Details

Academic Mobility
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-853-2

Book part
Publication date: 20 October 2016

Anne E. Bowler, Terry G. Lilley and Chrysanthi S. Leon

A central tenet of Progressive era responses to prostitution was the alleged over-representation of white, US-born daughters of foreign parentage in the prostitution population…

Abstract

A central tenet of Progressive era responses to prostitution was the alleged over-representation of white, US-born daughters of foreign parentage in the prostitution population. We detail a statistical error in an influential 1913 study from the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford as an important source of this tenet. Using archival data to more accurately reconstruct the Reformatory population, we find that Black women constituted the only over-represented group, but were all but ignored by reformers. We foreground how ideas about race and immigration informed the social response to prostitution in this period, highlighting the importance of critically analyzing historical sources.

Details

Special Issue: Problematizing Prostitution: Critical Research and Scholarship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-040-4

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Book part
Publication date: 7 January 2019

Michal Engelman and Leafia Zi Ye

Social and economic disparities between racial/ethnic groups are a feature of the American context into which immigrants are incorporated and a key determinant of population…

Abstract

Social and economic disparities between racial/ethnic groups are a feature of the American context into which immigrants are incorporated and a key determinant of population health. We ask whether racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes vary by nativity and whether native-immigrant disparities in diabetes vary by race and over time in the United States. Using the 2000–2015 National Health Interview Survey, we estimate logistic regressions to examine the interaction of race/ethnicity, nativity, and duration in the US in shaping diabetes patterns. Relative to their native-born co-ethnics, foreign-born Asian adults experience a significant diabetes disadvantage, while foreign-born Hispanic, Black, and White adults experience a significant advantage. Adjusting for obesity, education, and other covariates eliminates the foreign-born advantage for Black and White adults, but it persists for Hispanic adults. The same adjustment accentuates the disadvantage for foreign-born Asian adults. For Black and Hispanic adults, the protective foreign-born effect erodes as duration in the US increases. For foreign-born Asian adults, the immigrant disadvantage appears to grow with duration in the US. Relative to native-born White adults, all non-white groups regardless of nativity see a diabetes disadvantage because the racial/ethnic disadvantage either countervails a foreign-born advantage or amplifies a foreign-born disadvantage. Racial/ethnic differentials in diabetes are considerable and are influenced by each group’s nativity composition. Obesity and (for the foreign-born) time in the US influence these disparities, but do not explain them. These findings underscore the importance of unmeasured, systemic determinants of health in America’s race-conscious society.

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Immigration and Health
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-062-4

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Book part
Publication date: 7 January 2019

Nathan T. Dollar

This chapter proposes that efforts to improve our understanding of factors affecting migrant health and longevity in the United States must consider migrants’ labor market…

Abstract

This chapter proposes that efforts to improve our understanding of factors affecting migrant health and longevity in the United States must consider migrants’ labor market incorporation and the structural conditions under which they work. I use public-use death certificate data to examine whether there is a mortality penalty for foreign-born workers in the secondary sector industries of agriculture and construction. I focus on the decade of the 1990s for two contextual and empirical reasons: (1) the decade was characterized by economic restructuring, restrictive immigration policy, increased migration, and dispersion of migrants to new geographic destinations; and (2) the 1990s is an opportunistic decade because 19 states coded the industry and occupation of the decedent during this time. These numerator mortality data and Census denominator data are used to compare all-cause mortality rates between working-age (16–64 years) US-born and foreign-born agricultural and construction workers, the overall foreign-born population, and foreign-born workers in health care – an industry where the foreign-born tend to work in well-paid occupations that are well-regulated by the state. The results show a clear mortality penalty for foreign-born workers in agriculture and construction compared to the overall foreign-born population and foreign-born healthcare workers. The results also show the mortality penalty for foreign-born secondary sector workers varies by industry. These findings support the argument that bringing work into our analyses is critical to understanding the contextual and structural factors affecting migrant health and survival.

Book part
Publication date: 31 December 2010

Howard Bodenhorn, Carolyn M. Moehling and Anne Morrison Piehl

Past studies of the empirical relationship between immigration and crime during the first major wave of immigration have focused on violent crime in cities and have relied on data…

Abstract

Past studies of the empirical relationship between immigration and crime during the first major wave of immigration have focused on violent crime in cities and have relied on data with serious limitations regarding nativity information. We analyze administrative data from Pennsylvania prisons, with high-quality information on nativity and demographic characteristics. The latter allow us to construct incarceration rates for detailed population groups using U.S. Census data. The raw gap in incarceration rates for the foreign and native born is large, in accord with the extremely high concern at the time about immigrant criminality. But adjusting for age and gender greatly narrows that observed gap. Particularly striking are the urban/rural differences. Immigrants were concentrated in large cities where reported crime rates were higher. However, within rural counties, the foreign born had much higher incarceration rates than the native born. The interaction of nativity with urban residence explains much of the observed aggregate differentials in incarceration rates. Finally, we find that the foreign born, especially the Irish, consistently have higher incarceration rates for violent crimes, but from 1850 to 1860 the natives largely closed the gap with the foreign born for property offenses.

Details

Migration and Culture
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-153-5

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Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Alicja Bobek and Camilla Devitt

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals by examining the perspectives of foreign- and Irish-born professionals and their…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals by examining the perspectives of foreign- and Irish-born professionals and their managers.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 health professionals (foreign- and Irish-born) and with hospital managers (Irish-born). All interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings

The managers and professionals interviewed mostly perceived ethnically diverse workplaces as an asset. Health professionals also identified a number of challenges, including internal divisions based on ethnicity, language and communication problems and cultural differences. However, in general, discrimination on the basis of ethnicity was not highlighted by interviewees.

Research limitations/implications

While the qualitative design of the study allowed for an in-depth exploration of experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in selected Irish hospitals, the relatively small sample size poses some limitations. The study brings to light the need for larger-scale survey-based research on the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals, which includes Irish- and foreign-born health professionals in the sample.

Originality/value

The study includes a variety of perspectives on experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in Irish hospitals, including foreign-born health professionals, their Irish-born colleagues and hospital managers.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 39 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2019

Jason R. Lambert and Ekundayo Y. Akinlade

There has been an increasing number of allegations of discrimination toward US employees and anecdotal indications of immigrant employee exploitation in the information technology…

Abstract

Purpose

There has been an increasing number of allegations of discrimination toward US employees and anecdotal indications of immigrant employee exploitation in the information technology sector. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if applicants’ work visa status causes native-born applicants to be treated differentially (less favorably) than foreign-born applicants.

Design/methodology/approach

A correspondence study design is used to observe differential screening processes by measuring the frequency of favorable job application responses received by foreign-born applicants compared to equally skilled native-born applicants.

Findings

Results from the study suggest that fictitious Asian foreign-born applicants who demonstrate the need for H-1B work visa sponsorship for employment receive significantly more favorable e-mail responses to job ads than US native-born applicants. Moreover, white native-born applicants are approximately 23 percent less likely than Asian foreign-born applicants to receive a request for an interview.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen method, the research results may lack generalizability. The hypotheses should be tested further by targeting more geographical locations, a variety of industries and using qualitative methods in future research.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for hiring managers who wish to reduce their liability for employment discrimination and foreign-born job seekers wishing to manage their expectations of the recruitment process.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified need to empirically study how the work visa status of job seekers affects early recruitment as increasingly more anecdotal evidence of immigrant exploitation and discrimination in the technology sector is reported.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 49 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 November 2009

Delia Furtado

A common perception about immigrant assimilation is that association with natives necessarily speeds the process by which immigrants become indistinguishable from natives. Using…

Abstract

A common perception about immigrant assimilation is that association with natives necessarily speeds the process by which immigrants become indistinguishable from natives. Using 2000 Census data, this paper casts doubt on this presumption by examining the effect of an immigrant's marriage to a native, a measure of social integration, on dropout rates of children from these marriages. Although second-generation immigrants with one native parent generally have lower dropout rates than those with two foreign-born parents, the relationship reverses when steps are taken to control for observable and unobservable background characteristics. That is, immigrants that marry natives have children that are more likely to drop out of high school than immigrants that marry other immigrants. Moreover, gender differences in the effect of marriage to a native disappear in specifications which control for the endogeneity of the marriage decision.

Details

Ethnicity and Labor Market Outcomes
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-634-2

1 – 10 of over 29000