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1 – 10 of 207Leila Kian and Halleh Ghorashi
Purpose – With political tensions surrounding migrants in post-9/11 Western societies, scholarship on second-generation immigrants has surged. This study explores the narratives…
Abstract
Purpose – With political tensions surrounding migrants in post-9/11 Western societies, scholarship on second-generation immigrants has surged. This study explores the narratives of second-generation Iranian-Dutch women, a previously unstudied group, in relation to their positionality regarding identity and belonging.
Methodology/Approach – By combining focus group discussions with in-depth individual interviews, we explored the narratives of 13 second-generation Iranian-Dutch women. Our focus was on their senses of belonging, cultural identities and lived experiences as they navigated between Dutch society and their parents’ complicated heritage, against the backdrop of the post-9/11 world.
Findings – Although these women are perfectly ‘integrated’, they are still frequently approached and labelled as ‘foreigners’ in society, which negatively impacts their sense of belonging in Dutch society. However, our participants navigated contradicting parental and societal expectations, finding new ways to belong and fashioning cultural identities in multiplicity.
Originality/Value of the Paper – To our knowledge, the specific experiences of second-generation Iranian-Dutch migrants have received no scholarly attention. Our findings further the understanding on relevant second-generation themes such as the immigrant bargain, solidarity between different ethnic minority groups, and new ways of belonging.
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The purpose of this paper is to focus on “brain drain,” or emigration of educated and skilled individuals to the USA from one Southwest Asian nation, Iran, which has experienced…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on “brain drain,” or emigration of educated and skilled individuals to the USA from one Southwest Asian nation, Iran, which has experienced fundamental social changes since the early 1970s. The author examines the profile of the educated Iranian emigrants particularly in the last two decades, internal and external socio‐economic and political forces and processes that have facilitated emigration, and costs and benefits for both sending and receiving countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on earlier world‐system and dependency theories the author traces the roots of center‐periphery relations that have triggered emigration, and applies David Harvey's analysis of the new phase of globalization (post‐Fordist flexible production) to distinguish the emigration dynamics of Iran's educated individuals during the 1950‐1980 period from those of the last three decades (since the 1979 Iranian revolution).
Findings
The findings indicate that while in the former period (1950‐1980) educated Iranians emigrated to further their education and sharpen their skills as sojourners, with the expectation that they will return to Iran and serve their nation, emigrants in the latter period (1980‐present) are guided by a new culture of the post‐Fordist globalization phase that thrives on the mobility of a highly skilled and educated global labour force that can be promptly and efficiently utilized wherever there is a demand. Similar to some other nationalities, the post‐Fordist educated Iranian emigrants are no longer constrained by the nationalist sentiments of the previous period. Rather, they have developed an “internationalist national identity” that allows them to respond to the demands of a global market while still maintaining their Iranian cultural identity.
Originality/value
This is an original research based on documentation and personal interviews of a non‐random sample of Iranian students at the University of Iowa.
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Anja Johnsen, Gaby Ortiz-Barreda, Guro Rekkedal and Anette Christine Iversen
The purpose of this paper is to summarise and analyse empirical research on protective factors that promote academic resilience in ethnic minority children mainly aged between 13…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to summarise and analyse empirical research on protective factors that promote academic resilience in ethnic minority children mainly aged between 13 and 18 years attending schools in the Nordic countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper was opted for a literature review of 23 peer-reviewed quantitative articles published between 1999 and 2014. The analysis entailed protective factors at both the personal and environmental levels in ethnic minority children.
Findings
Some minority children’s school performance may be just as good if not better than majority children when having similar or even lower socioeconomic status than majority children. Protective factors at the personal level included working hard, having a positive attitude towards school, and having high educational aspirations. Protective factors at the environmental level included supportive school systems, supportive schools, and supportive networks including parental qualities and support. The findings are comparable to the findings outside the Nordic countries with one exception; minority children in the Nordic countries performed better than expected despite socioeconomic disadvantages.
Research limitations/implications
Protective factors affecting academic resilience need further attention in a time with an increased global migration. Research implications may be related to how schools and policy makers develop supportive school systems, supportive schools, and supportive networks to contribute to making a difference for minority children’s educational opportunities in the Nordic countries.
Originality/value
Academic resilience is a relatively new research field in the Nordic countries. This review is the first review which has summarised and analysed existing findings on academic resilience in the Nordic countries in minority children.
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Kathy Davis, Halleh Ghorashi, Peer Smets and Melanie Eijberts
Secil E. Ertorer, Jennifer Long, Melissa Fellin and Victoria M. Esses
This paper explores integration experiences of immigrants in the Canadian workplace from the perspective of immigrants themselves, focusing on cultural capital and cultural…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores integration experiences of immigrants in the Canadian workplace from the perspective of immigrants themselves, focusing on cultural capital and cultural judgments as factors influencing workplace entry, advancement and social integration in an increasingly diverse work environment.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive approach that involved thematic analysis of in-depth interview data was employed.
Findings
The findings reveal that the official two-way multiculturalism policy of Canada is not reflected in the Canadian workplace and that structural forces of assimilation are evident. Cultural judgments and immigrants' cultural capital create barriers for integration.
Research limitations/implications
While highlighting important aspects of immigrant experiences within the Canadian workplace, the study findings cannot generate a fully representative theorization of immigrant employment experiences in Canada. Further studies with diverse migrant groups in different parts of the country would shed more light on the issues faced by immigrants.
Practical implications
The barriers to social integration identified by this study can be largely overcome by improving intercultural skills and cultural intelligence of employers and employees through training and incorporating values of diversity and inclusion into the corporate culture.
Social implications
The factors that foster and hinder workplace integration identified by this study can inform workplace integration strategies and related policies.
Originality/value
Much of the literature concerning immigrants' position in Canada address the economic integration and economic well-being of immigrants, focusing on quantitative, macro level analyses of earnings disparity and labor market segmentation. There is a lack of qualitative research that explores the integration process through the lens of immigrants. Informed by the theories of cultural capital, cultural judgment and integration, the study sheds light on the everyday workplace experiences of skilled migrants and perceived barriers to workplace entry, advancement and social integration.
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Gerald Mollenhorst, Christofer Edling and Jens Rydgren
In this chapter, we focus on the social integration of young immigrants in Sweden who themselves and/or one or both of their parents came from Iran or former Yugoslavia. In…
Abstract
In this chapter, we focus on the social integration of young immigrants in Sweden who themselves and/or one or both of their parents came from Iran or former Yugoslavia. In particular, we look at the share of alters in their core networks who are of the same parental national origin and how this has changed within a period of four years. To explain network changes, we consider the parental national origin similarity among them, changes in opportunities to meet network members, and important life events.
We analyzed two waves of survey data collected in 2010 and 2014 from 1,537 individuals who live in Sweden and who were all born in 1990, including 325 immigrants from Iran, 447 immigrants from former Yugoslavia, and 805 native Swedes. The results indicate that: (a) the share of parental national origin similar alters in the core networks of immigrants significantly increases over time, (b) first-generation immigrants in particular increasingly associate with others who are of the same parental national origin, (c) important life events hardly result in network changes, and (d) schools and work places are social contexts that enhance the social integration of immigrants, because in these contexts immigrants meet and engage in personal relationships with individuals who do not share their parental national origin.
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