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Existing studies on the relationship between culture, gender and entrepreneurial identity of immigrant entrepreneurs have tended to focus exclusively on women. I set out to understand how Chinese immigrant men and women entrepreneurs construct their entrepreneurial identities based on cultural and gendered experiences. I asked: How do Chinese immigrant men and women entrepreneurs construct entrepreneurial identities based on their cultural and gender experiences? How are these experiences related to entrepreneurial endeavours and views of entrepreneurial success? Through a qualitative study of 20 in-depth interviews with 10 men and 10 women, I explored similarities and differences within and between the two groups. The findings show that both men and women narrated entrepreneurial identities as coming from nothing, reflecting the notion of “zero mindset” proposed in the literature. My study contributes by connecting coming-from-nothing to entrepreneurial endeavours and perceptions of success. I also show that there is a spectrum of cultural identities ranging from identifying strongly as Chinese to identifying as Chinese Canadian, and that positioning on this spectrum can influence business endeavours. The study also contributes by presenting a direct comparison between men and women immigrant entrepreneurs from the same home and host countries. It does so by showing that: women associated with the idea of “learning entrepreneurship”, whereas men associated with the concept of innately “being entrepreneur”; women tended to prioritize the gender role of mother and wife over the entrepreneurial role and to define success as stability in the business and balance between work and family, more so than men did.

This thesis is an investigation into migration, identity and labour among South Asian immigrant women in the Greater Toronto Area. It is an ethnographic exploration of how South Asian migrant’s relationship with precarity and how it informs the process of subjectification when faced with the realities of downward mobility. I focus on the practices and narrative repertoire that aid the relationship between labour and the making of the self. This inquiry has implications for the study of migration and expands on previous conceptualization in the literature on precarity. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

This qualitative study examined the changes that have occurred due to global and hemispheric market forces, and particularly through Hispanic immigration, in a small town in Southwest Virginia. The interdisciplinary study is written as a narrative, and includes descriptions of the town and people of Galax, Virginia and of the predominately Mexican immigrants who have come to live there. The primary focus is on the changes and challenges that occur in schools from the perspective of teachers and administrators, as well as from the students. Local residents and Hispanic immigrants alike share their perspectives on the impacts of immigration and their efforts to accommodate changes in their lives and communities. The researcher draws from his personal experience as an immigrant to Mexico to probe the search for identity and meaning that are common to immigrants. The study found that Hispanic children have devised an unofficial dual-language peer support system for learning in the classrooms that circumvents the assimilationist approach to which the schools have adhered. Immigrant children experience marginalization even in caring school environments such as those found in the Galax schools, due largely to the lack of preparation of teachers and administrators in culturally appropriate pedagogy. The study calls for more direct involvement between the university and local communities experiencing significant change due to global forces. Demographic change through immigration impacts schools implicitly, and requires the support and education of teachers and administrators through regional schools of education. / Ph. D.

Using autoethnography (Ellis, 2004), this study explores a female immigrant student's lived experiences in education in China, and in the United States. The theoretical framework of this study is critical autoethnography. In the study, I present my lived experiences in poems, narratives, and stories as the storied scholarship (Boylorn and Orbe, 2014). Through the study, I make sense of how a female non-traditional immigrant student navigated schooling in the complex social, cultural environment in the United States, and schooling experiences of my youth in China. I utilize the study to examine the deeper meaning of my story as an inquiry (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; Richardson and St. Pierre, 2005). In doing so, to not only make sense of the complex lifelong experiences (Berger, 2004) of an immigrant student, but also to make connections with many other female immigrant students, and to bring new light to the understanding of their struggles, difficulties, and challenges. I use various literary styles and the metaphor of finding the voice in my writing to illustrate the process (Forber-Pratt, 2015; Luke, 2009). / Doctor of Philosophy

Recent data show that immigrant women in the U.S. are generally in poorer health than U.S.-born women and immigrant men , and many immigrant women encounter some difficulties in obtaining health care assistance, such as health insurance. Yet American researchers are only beginning to make a contribution to this area of scholarship. This thesis examines in detail the health status of immigrant women, the means by which immigrant women obtain health insurance, and several factors that are likely to influence their health care access. I mainly examine the associations between three factors (public policy, employment status, and marital status) and access to health care assistance. I do so because employers and government-sponsored health care programs are both major insurance providers, and being married is an important factor in accounting for immigrant women's health insurance coverage. The project consists of case studies in three states — California, Florida and New York — using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The data come from two rounds of the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF 1997 and NSAF 1999) and documentation of welfare reform rules. The results of this study demonstrate that all three factors contribute to immigrant women's health insurance coverage and that anti-immigrant sentiments are inadequate for explaining immigrants' health care circumstances. / Master of Arts

Using a qualitative bricolage approach (Kincheloe, n.d., 2008), this study explores the everyday school life of immigrant students enrolled in an Advanced English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom in a high school in southwest Virginia. The overarching objective of this study is to examine how these students"five from Mexico, three from Honduras, and one from China" experience school. I present my research in two manuscripts: "Just Like Me: How Immigrant English Language Learners Experience a Rural High School and "I'm NOT Stupid!" The Trouble with JanCarlos. In Just Like Me, I use figured worlds (Holland et al., 1998) and positioning theory (Davies, 2000; Harre & van Langenhove, 1999) as analytical frameworks to present how the students rely on their positions as English language learners in an ESL program, on the ESL faculty, and on one another to co-construct a variety of practices that create opportunities for agency in the school space. I describe how they co-construct a world, vis-a-vis their everyday practices, in and through which, they navigate the institution, meet academic needs, and establish networks of care. I also examine the "dissonant threads""elements of data that resist perfect codification"to deepen analysis and to portray a complex portrait of ESL II (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997). In I'm NOT Stupid, I trouble the school experiences of JanCarlos, a student in the advanced ESL class. Using dialogue and reflexive internal dialogue, I story two events that altered the trajectory of his school life"an emotional argument with the ESL teacher and punishment for drawing graffiti on a bathroom wall. I present how each of these events represented "critical incidents" (Tripp, 1998; Webster & John, 2010) in my research as they interrupted my objective stance and altered my interpretations (Poulos, 2009). As I "connect the autobiographical and personal to the cultural, social, and political" (Ellis, 2004, xix), I use autoethnography to critically examine each event. As I watched events unfold, I routinely asked the relational ethical question""What should I do now?" (Ellis, 2007, p. 4). In so doing, I make transparent my position and power in creating knowledge (Kincheloe, McLaren, & Steinberg, 2012). / Ph. D.

Bakgrund: Personcentrerad omvårdnad är beroende av kommunikationen mellan vårdgivare och vårdsökande person. Andelen utlandsfödda i Sverige och övriga världen ökar samtidigt som denna grupp rapporteras ha sämre tillgång till hälso- och sjukvård och sämre hälsa än icke utlandsfödda. Därför står hälso- och sjukvården inför stora utmaningar. Syfte: Att beskriva vårdsökande personers erfarenheter av att kommunicera med vårdpersonal då gemensamt modersmål saknas. Metod: En litteraturöversikt bestående av 14 artiklar skrivna med kvalitativ metod som söktes fram i databaserna Cinahl och PsycINFO. Analys utfördes induktivt och utmynnade i fyra kategorier. Resultat: Språkbarriärer inverkar på vårdens kvalitet och individens tillgång till vård. Kommunikation i vårdmötet upplevs som svårare än annan kommunikation och kan leda till att vårdsökande personer sluter sig gentemot vårdpersonal. Empatiskt bemötande, tålamod och intresse från vårdpersonal förbättrade upplevelsen. Informell tolk användes till följd av okunskap om att professionell tolk tillhandahölls. Slutsats: Vårdens tillgänglighet för personer som upplever språkbarriärer måste öka. Vårdpersonal bör anpassa sitt språk och försäkra sig om att vårdsökande personer förstår. Vården måste bli bättre på att informera om och bistå med lämpliga tolkar – val av tolk ska utgå från personens önskemål. Vidare forskning kan göras för att hitta fler sätt att arbeta personcentrerat trots språkbarriärer. / Background: Person-centered care is dependent on communication between healthcare provider and patient. The proportion of foreign-born in Sweden and the rest of the world increases. A group with less access to healthcare and poorer health than non-foreign-born. This presents major challenges to healthcare. Objective: To describe patient´s experiences of communicating with healthcare professionals in the absence of a common mother tongue. Methods: A literature review consisting of 14 articles with a qualitative approach that were retrieved from the databases CINAHL and PsycINFO. Analysis was made using an inductive approach resulting in four categories. Results: Language barriers affect quality of, and access to care. Communication in healthcare was perceived as more difficult than other communication and might lead to patients distancing themselves from healthcare professionals. Empathy, patience and interest from healthcare professionals improves patient´s experience. Informal interpreters are often used due to a lack of knowledge regarding professional interpreters. Conclusions: Healthcare availability for persons experiencing language barriers needs to increase. Professionals need to adapt their language and ensure that patients understand. Healthcare professionals must inform patients about, and assist with appropriate interpreters based on the person’s preferences. Further research may identify alternate ways to work person-centered despite language barriers.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Bakgrund Ett stort antal nyanlända barn och ungdomar har börjat skola i Sverige under de senaste åren. Skolsköterskor har en unik möjlighet att på ett jämlikt sätt främja hälsa och en hälsosam livsstil hos dessa barn och ungdomar. Tidigare studier visar en särskild utsatthet i denna grupp vilket ligger till grund för föreliggande studie. Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur skolsköterskor arbetar för att främja en god livsstil hos nyanlända barn och ungdomar i Sverige.   Metoden var kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer användes som datainsamlingsmetod och analyserades enligt kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet genererade i två huvudkategorier som mynnade i ett tema. Huvudkategorierna var Följsam och lyhörd i mötet och Driva arbetet framåt genom att tänka nytt och temat som dessa mynnade i var Genom mötet med individen skapas möjligheter och utveckling. Konklusionen visar på betydelsen av att skapa ett möte med det nyanlända barnet genom att på ett följsamt sätt skapa trygghet, tillit och att ge relevant information. Men även behovet av att tänka nytt, anpassa och på så sätt skapa förutsättningar för hälsofrämjande arbete. Föreliggande studie pekar även på de utmaningar som skolsköterskor ställts inför de senaste åren och behovet av ytterligare forskning. / The background A large number of newly arrived immigrant children and adolescents have started school in Sweden in recent years. School nurses have a unique opportunity to promote health and a healthy lifestyle in these children and adolescents equally. Previous studies show a particular vulnerability in this group, which forms the basis of the present study. The purpose of the study was to describe how school nurses work to promote a good lifestyle with newly arrived immigrant children and adolescents in Sweden. The method used was qualitative with an inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection method and analyzed according to qualitative content analysis. The result generated in two main categories that resulted in a theme. The main categories were Flexible and responsive in the meeting and Force the work forward by thinking new and the theme that these resulted in was Through the meeting with the individual, opportunities and progress are created. The conclusion shows the importance of creating a meeting with the newly arrived immigrant child by providing security, trust and relevant information. Present study also points to the challenges faced by school nurses in recent years and the need for further research.