The Gender of Multiculturalism: Cultural Tokenism and the Institutional Isolation of Immigrant Women Faculty

2021 ◽  
pp. 073112142098109
Author(s):  
Debaleena Ghosh ◽  
Kristen Barber
Keyword(s):  
White Women ◽  
Immigrant Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professional Women ◽  
Women Faculty ◽  
Racial Stereotypes ◽  
High Status ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Organizational Diversity ◽  
Barriers To Promotion

Much research on tokenism has focused on the organizational processes by which white women and racial minorities experience heightened surveillance at work and become occupationally immobile. Little research has considered how tokenism operates for other minority workers, such as immigrants. We theorize cultural tokenism to explain the ways in which foreign-born minorities in the United States are held up against hegemonic ethnic markers besides cultural gender standards and racial stereotypes, resulting in their interpersonal and institutional exoticization. Drawing on interviews with 33 immigrant women university faculty, this study shows how cultural contrasts make work difficult for high-status, foreign-born professional women. Specifically, they experience gendered pressures to provide U.S.-born students with “cultural enrichment” experiences and demonstrate organizational diversity while navigating the effects of tokenism. This research explains barriers to promotion and work satisfaction for immigrant women in white-collar jobs, and raises questions about how organizations can benefit from hiring these workers without exploiting them.

scholarly journals The Intersection of Race and Ethnicity, Nativity, and Sex on Cognitive Trajectories of Older Adults in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 241-242
Author(s):  
Wassim Tarraf ◽  
Marc Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Neurologic Sequelae ◽  
Global Cognition ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract We used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2016) to estimate sex-specific age-graded changes in global cognition and memory among White, Black, and U.S.- and foreign-born Latino adults 51 years and older. Among males, racial/ethnic and nativity differences in cognitive function were mainly evident at younger ages, particularly for Blacks compared to Whites. We found no evidence to support male racial/ethnic or nativity differentials in trajectories of cognitive aging. For women, older Blacks and U.S.-Born Latinas, and to a lesser degree foreign-born Latinas, had lower cognitive function at younger ages. However, White women showed more pronounced cognitive aging in comparison to U.S.- and foreign-born Latinas. Results applied to both global and memory outcomes. Our findings support calls for nuanced considerations of racial/ethnic and nativity effects on cognitive aging and ADRDs. Continued monitoring of differential cognitive aging trends is warranted as the vascular and neurologic sequelae of COVID-19 manifests.

scholarly journals Hypertension Experience of Foreign-Born West African Immigrant Women in the United States: Access to and Utilization of Health Services

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assumpta Onyinye Ude ◽  
Michael Schwab
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Immigrant Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
West African ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Transportation Services

Abstract BackgroundHypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and the leading cause of premature deaths in the United States. Hypertension is a commonly reported chronic disease in foreign-born-adult immigrants living in the United States, and psychosocial-cultural factors such as lack of health insurance and poor transportation services have been reported particularly among foreign-born immigrant women with hypertension and other chronic diseases. However, little is known about the socio-cultural factors that influence access to and utilization of hypertension health services in West-African-born immigrant women in the United States.MethodsThis study utilized a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach to interview a purposeful sample of fifteen West-African-born immigrant women that reported diagnosis of hypertension (12 with health insurance and 3 without health insurance) in the Washington District of Columbia Metropolitan area. The Patient Centered Access to Health Care Model guided the conceptual framework of the study. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and generate categories and themes.ResultsFive themes emerged from the analysis: Health Insurance Coverage, Frequency of Hypertension Care Visits, Interaction with HCP, Culturally Sensitive HCP, and HTN Self-Care Incentives. Eighty percent of participants had medical insurance and transportation services, but delayed seeking HTN care because their health care providers did not listen to their concerns or discuss their preferences before prescribing treatment. More than 60 percent of the women reported that clinicians did not listen to their concerns or provide culturally appropriate guidance during their visits.ConclusionsThese findings could be helpful for larger scale studies, or smaller comparative studies in other regions of the United States. Cultural competence training should be included in the continuing education curriculum of healthcare providers serving the West-African-born immigrant population.

Wrestling with 9/11: Immigrant Perceptions and Perceptions of Immigrants

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Brettell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Asian Indians ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fort Worth ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Immigrant Populations ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
The Impact

Soon after 9/11 a research project to study new immigration into the Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area got under way. In the questionnaire that was administered to 600 immigrants across five different immigrant populations (Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Mexicans, Salvadorans, and Nigerians) between 2003 and 2005 we decided to include a question about the impact of 9/11 on their lives. We asked: “How has the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 affected your position as an immigrant in the United States?” This article analyzes the responses to this question, looking at similarities and differences across different immigrant populations. It also addresses the broader issue of how 9/11 has affected both immigration policy and attitudes toward the foreign-born in the United States. 

Telling Cases That Inform an Understanding of Factors Impacting the Development of Inventors From Diverse Backgrounds

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-142
Author(s):  
Stephanie Couch ◽  
Audra Skukauskaite ◽  
Leigh B. Estabrooks
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Young Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
School Students ◽  
School Year ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds

The lack of diversity among patent holders in the United States (1-3) is a topic that is being discussed by federal policymakers. Available data suggests that prolific patent holders and leading technology innovators are 88.3% male and nearly 94.3% Asian, Pacific Islander, or White, and half of the diversity that does exist is among those who are foreign born (3). The data shows that there is a need for greater diversity among patent holders. Few studies, however, are available to guide the work of educators creating learning opportunities to help young people from diverse backgrounds learn to invent. Educators must navigate issues that have complex sociocultural and historical dimensions (4), which shape the ideas of those surrounding them regarding who can invent, with whom, under what conditions, and for what purposes. In this paper, we report the results of an ongoing multimethod study of an invention education pro- gram that has worked with teachers and students in Grades 6 through 12 for the past 16 years. Findings stem from an analysis of end-of-year experience surveys and interview transcripts of six students (three young men and three young women) who participated in high school InvenTeams®. The data were used to investigate three topics: 1) ways high school students who have participated on an InvenTeam conceptualize the term "failure" and what it means to "learn from failure," 2) what supported and constrained the work of the three young women during their InvenTeams experience and the implications for policy makers concerned about the gender gap in patenting, and 3) ways the young men and young women took up (or didn't take up) the identity of "inventor" after working on a team that developed a working prototype of an invention during the previous school year.

Racial Disparities in Pregnancy-associated Intimate Partner Homicide

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199083
Author(s):  
Aaron J. Kivisto ◽  
Samantha Mills ◽  
Lisa S. Elwood
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Intimate Partner Homicide ◽  
Homicide Victimization ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Pregnancy-associated femicide accounts for a mortality burden at least as high as any of the leading specific obstetric causes of maternal mortality, and intimate partners are the most common perpetrators of these homicides. This study examined pregnancy-associated and non-pregnancy-associated intimate partner homicide (IPH) victimization among racial/ethnic minority women relative to their non-minority counterparts using several sources of state-level data from 2003 through 2017. Data regarding partner homicide victimization came from the National Violent Death Reporting System, natality data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, and relevant sociodemographic information was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. Findings indicated that pregnancy and racial/ethnic minority status were each associated with increased risk for partner homicide victimization. Although rates of non-pregnancy-associated IPH victimization were similar between Black and White women, significant differences emerged when limited to pregnancy-associated IPH such that Black women evidenced pregnancy-associated IPH rates more than threefold higher than that observed among White and Hispanic women. Relatedly, the largest intraracial discrepancies between pregnant and non-pregnant women emerged among Black women, who experienced pregnancy-associated IPH victimization at a rate 8.1 times greater than their non-pregnant peers. These findings indicate that the racial disparities in IPH victimization in the United States observed in prior research might be driven primarily by the pronounced differences among the pregnant subset of these populations.

Effects of Violence on Trauma among Immigrant Women from Central America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlette Vila ◽  
Elizabeth C Pomeroy
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Immigrant Women ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Hierarchical Regression Model ◽  
Effects Of Violence

Abstract The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of violence on trauma among forced-immigrant women from the northern triangle of Central America (NTCA) resulting from direct and indirect violence in their country of origin and during the migratory journey through Mexico. In trauma theory the concept of compounding stressors is an important framework for understanding aspects of human development, especially among low-socioeconomic-status and oppressed populations. Authors hypothesized that violence would have an impact on trauma and conducted interviews with 108 women ages 18 to 65 from the NTCA who traveled by land across Mexico before entering the United States. A survey instrument captured demographic information and types of violence experienced in the home country and during the migratory journey. A standardized screening tool was used to measure trauma symptoms. A hierarchical regression model for trauma was entered in the following order: (a) demographics and (b) violence. Violence was found to be a significant predictor for trauma. Findings suggest that having experienced violence in the country of origin and through the migratory journey had a powerful role in predicting trauma symptoms among immigrant women from the NTCA.

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