Thesis advisor: Rebekah Levine Coley / One in eight children in the U.S. live in an immigrant Latino family. The contexts common to their families include accumulated disadvantages that result in diminished educational attainment. High quality early childhood education (ECE) is increasingly seen as a cost-effective intervention that can mitigate negative educational outcomes for children, yet research has found that Latino immigrant families have lower utilization rates of center-based care, often associated with high quality, than other racial and ethnic counterparts. This research study aimed to better understand the ECE decision-making process of Latino foreign-born parents with children ages 3 to 5 through an examination of the accommodation model to develop a culturally-informed model that delineates family and community characteristics, parental preferences and perceived opportunities and constraints that relate to ECE selection for this population. This aim was addressed through a two phase, mixed methods study. Through group interviews with twenty-two Latino immigrant parents across four communities in the Greater New York City metropolitan area, Phase 1 sought to explore the decision-making process through which such parents pursue ECE decisions for their young children. Thematic analysis informed by grounded-theory identified seven themes central to these families: beliefs about development and parental goals, “cara vemos, corazon no sabemos”/trusting providers, understanding of ECE, perceived context of reception, informed preferences, opportunities and constraints, and evaluating ECE. The resulting culturally-informed model highlights the ways that the culturally-bounded contexts common to Latino immigrant families inform their mental representations of available ECE choices, parental beliefs and socialization goals, and social context to create a set of informed preferences that guide their decision-making. These findings highlight the importance of maternal employment and parental beliefs about development in constraining parent’s informed preferences and ECE choice. Phase 2 aimed to test the overall integrity of the culturally-informed model of decision-making and assesses its prediction of Latino immigrant parents’ ECE selection. Data were drawn from the Household and Center-based Surveys of the 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education, with data on 744 children ages 3 to 5 years in Latino immigrant families. Measures from parent reports and administrative data operationalized six of the themes found in the first phase. Findings from multinomial logistic regression analyses found that maternal employment and child age moderated components of the model and ECE selection. Results also highlight the importance of culturally-bounded contexts of the ECE decision-making process of Latino immigrant families. Findings from each phase were compared through side-by-side analysis for convergence. Implications for future research, policy and the field are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

The present study examines the effects of characteristics of perceived career boundaries (permeability, stability, legitimacy) on immigrant professionals’ subjective career outcomes in a longitudinal design. Based on social identity theory framework, I propose a model that examines how immigrant professionals’ perceptions of career boundaries influence two important areas for establishing a satisfying career and successful social integration in Canada: (1) perceptions of career-based success (career satisfaction and career anxiety) and (2) subjective well-being (life satisfaction and regret for immigrating to Canada). I further propose that perceptions of career boundaries act on subjective career outcomes through the quality of employment individuals obtained and the salience of immigrant professional identity. Perceived characteristics were assessed (N = 227) at Time 1, and measures of subjective career outcomes, employment quality, and immigrant professional identity salience were obtained (N = 101) at Time 2, six months later. In addition to the survey study, 12 immigrant professionals were interviewed for an in-depth understanding of the career experiences of immigrant professionals and immigrant professional identity salience. The longitudinal design of the study provides support for the temporal dimension of perceived characteristics; immigrant professionals’ initial perceptions about the career boundaries still predicted their beliefs about career-based success and subjective well-being six months later. Also, the findings provided some support for the mediating effects of employment quality and immigrant professional identity salience on the relationship between perceived characteristics and subjective career outcomes. This study sheds light on the relationship between the perceptions formed by immigrant professionals of the obstacles that they face in integrating into their new labour market, the employment decisions they take, and the impact this has on their sense of career and life well-being. It also reveals the way in which subjects invoke the intersectional identity of “immigrant professional” as a result of their experiences, and of the effect that this has on them. The findings can inform the practice of the various parties assisting the integration of immigrant professionals into the workforce, an ever-growing and not well-understood group of workers that populate many of today’s workplaces.

This paper examines the relationship between immigrant-composition and wages of different occupations and different industries in Canada. It reports the effects of change in proportion of immigrants on the wage level in 1996 for both male and female Canadians and immigrants. First all immigrants are considered homogeneous and thereafter they are distinguished according to a wide array of criterion and a full spectrum of results are presented. These results suggest that for immigrants the aggregate relationship of income with immigrant composition is fairly small, unless they are subcategorised into specific groups (e.g. non-white immigrants, immigration after 1990). The corresponding wage penalties for Canadians are more uniform across the different subgroup specifications and decomposition of the data.

The present study examines the effects of characteristics of perceived career boundaries (permeability, stability, legitimacy) on immigrant professionals’ subjective career outcomes in a longitudinal design. Based on social identity theory framework, I propose a model that examines how immigrant professionals’ perceptions of career boundaries influence two important areas for establishing a satisfying career and successful social integration in Canada: (1) perceptions of career-based success (career satisfaction and career anxiety) and (2) subjective well-being (life satisfaction and regret for immigrating to Canada). I further propose that perceptions of career boundaries act on subjective career outcomes through the quality of employment individuals obtained and the salience of immigrant professional identity. Perceived characteristics were assessed (N = 227) at Time 1, and measures of subjective career outcomes, employment quality, and immigrant professional identity salience were obtained (N = 101) at Time 2, six months later. In addition to the survey study, 12 immigrant professionals were interviewed for an in-depth understanding of the career experiences of immigrant professionals and immigrant professional identity salience. The longitudinal design of the study provides support for the temporal dimension of perceived characteristics; immigrant professionals’ initial perceptions about the career boundaries still predicted their beliefs about career-based success and subjective well-being six months later. Also, the findings provided some support for the mediating effects of employment quality and immigrant professional identity salience on the relationship between perceived characteristics and subjective career outcomes. This study sheds light on the relationship between the perceptions formed by immigrant professionals of the obstacles that they face in integrating into their new labour market, the employment decisions they take, and the impact this has on their sense of career and life well-being. It also reveals the way in which subjects invoke the intersectional identity of “immigrant professional” as a result of their experiences, and of the effect that this has on them. The findings can inform the practice of the various parties assisting the integration of immigrant professionals into the workforce, an ever-growing and not well-understood group of workers that populate many of today’s workplaces.

This paper examines the relationship between immigrant-composition and wages of different occupations and different industries in Canada. It reports the effects of change in proportion of immigrants on the wage level in 1996 for both male and female Canadians and immigrants. First all immigrants are considered homogeneous and thereafter they are distinguished according to a wide array of criterion and a full spectrum of results are presented. These results suggest that for immigrants the aggregate relationship of income with immigrant composition is fairly small, unless they are subcategorised into specific groups (e.g. non-white immigrants, immigration after 1990). The corresponding wage penalties for Canadians are more uniform across the different subgroup specifications and decomposition of the data.

This thesis explores first generation Muslim immigrant womens acculturation experiences and strategies from a religious, cultural and gender perspective. It aims to increase our understanding of the diverse and confounding roles and expectations of their heritage culture and host Canadian culture. Qualitative interviews with eight married with children, English-speaking Muslim immigrant women who have lived in Canada for at least three years explored: (a) their overall experiences living in a Canadian Prairie city; (b) their experience transitioning from their role in the family in a traditional non-Western culture to their role in the family in an egalitarian Canadian culture; and (c) factors that hinder and facilitate their adaptation in Canada. Findings demonstrated that although womens acculturation experiences and strategies are unique and dynamic, all women expressed the interconnectivity and significance of God, community and family in their lives. Womens personal experiences and goals related to work, family, and community influence how and to what degree they negotiate and reconcile the diverse and confounding roles and expectations of their heritage and Canadian cultures. Their acculturation experiences are constantly evolving, and their adaptation in Canada is largely influenced by their daily experiences, including the supports they have and do not have both at home and in their local heritage and host communities. Women also face the central challenge of raising their children in a culture that promotes a set of values that compromises the transmission of their own core religious/cultural values. Thus, they employ strategies such as conscientiously modeling devotion to Islam through practice and teaching, restricting their childrens personal freedom and independence, and monitoring and limiting their childrens Canadian friendships, while increasing contact with their local heritage community. This research contributes to cross-cultural inquiry via a cultural comparison that established cultural aspects of womens traditional heritage cultures, which was subsequently compared to Canadian culture as a tool for gauging cultural discrepancies. Future research may explore the whole family unit through a longitudinal lens to facilitate both the adaptation and integration of immigrants from collectivistic cultures into Canadian culture, and improved policies and programs that mark Canada as a pluralistic and egalitarian culture.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-114). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29599

An issue yet to receive much attention in the literature in medical sociology is how family systems may influence the emotional well-being of youth in Canada, particularly among newcomer youth. This study applies the family systems model of Kitzman-Ulrich and her colleagues as the principal theory to examine the emotional well-being of newcomer youth in Canada. Using data from the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCY) on 979 newcomer youth, it explains how family systems and other factors may influence emotional health of newcomer youth. Data were analyzed using multiple approaches. The multivariate analysis includes seven Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models – examining and comparing different groups: an overall model, and separate models for male, female, Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Filipino/a, and immigrant are performed. The results of this study reveal that variables within the family systems model are weak predictors of the presence of emotional problems among newcomer youth in Canada. Among four family systems variables used in the analyses, family cohesion, permissive parenting, and parental discipline are either weak or insignificant predictors; only parental praise is statistically significant. Furthermore, they are weak predictors compared with other factors beyond the family, such as age, time in Canada, being bullied at school, being immigrant, use of illegal/controlled substances, and being from a Mainland or Hong Kong Chinese group (for females only). The thesis ends with a discussion of limitations, future research, and policy suggestions. / October 2015

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Abstract In my thesis work, using expressive gestures, feminist theory and embroidery, I have explored experiences of immigrant women and their continuous struggle to thrive in a new homeland. My work is informed by my experiences as a first generation immigrant woman from Sri Lanka as well as my awareness and experiences of other immigrant women’s experiences from other countries. Although some women have lesser challenges, most immigrant women struggle to thrive in unfamiliar surroundings. This struggle has been a recurring theme in immigrant women’s lives throughout history, and women continue to go through immense hardships in trying to merge into a new society. While still daydreaming of their motherlands, most immigrant women suffer emotionally and psychologically due to lack of extended family support, education, finances, language skills, social and work skills, as well as tensions between traditional and cultural expectations. In spite of these obstacles immigrant women continuously make an effort to reclaim their strength and power. With advances in education and life experiences some of these difficult issues are fading away in my life, although, sometimes they do haunt me. In my artwork I have explored these common experiences and challenges overcome by me as well as other immigrant women through feminist theory, drawing and sculptural techniques and used embroidery, sewing and stitching to bring them to life. I hope to generate awareness through my artwork of women’s experiences that will influence the changes that contribute the empowerment of women.