The new Americans : factors affecting economic integration among African refugees in New Hampshire

dc.contributor.advisorSwack, Michael
dc.contributor.authorUgbe, Utiang P.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberClamp, Christina
dc.contributor.committeeMemberLejter, Nelly
dc.date.accessioned2010-05-19T20:08:39Z
dc.date.available2010-05-19T20:08:39Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.description.abstractSince 1983, 6000 refugees have resettled in New Hampshire from countries around the world, under the auspices of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. About 1300 (22%) of these came from African countries, 95% of them since the year 2000. Secondary migration (from within America) has increased the number of African refugees in New Hampshire to an estimated 2500. Their presence in New Hampshire raises the need for their economic, social, cultural, and political integration; economic integration is of particular importance because it facilitates access to the social, cultural and political spheres of society. The study utilizes mixed methods data to address human capital, situational dispositional theoretic elements on the factors affecting labor market activities, as well as current and potential microentrepreneurial activities among the African refugees in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire state government and Lutheran Social Services supplied the secondary data for the study, complemented by primary data from a researcher-administered survey of 110 cases, phenomenological interviews with 44 African refugees, and triangulation of these with six community-based resource persons who work with African refugees. Key findings include varying degrees of a statistical association between human capital and situational indicators (such as gender, age, education, country of origin, and length of stay in the USA) and the participants’ wage income; a downward occupational mobility for refugees with educational or professional qualifications; systemic barriers to the transfer, recognition, retraining, credentialing and licensing of occupational skills that the refugees bring from their countries of origin; illiteracy and lack of English language proficiency; cultural disconnectedness and lack of familiarity with the American workplace etiquette; and creative uses of the welfare state by refugees as coping strategies in combination with wage income or informal microentrepreneurial activities. Due to combined effects of these factors, 24% of the study participants are unemployed, while those employed concentrate in unskilled, entry-level jobs in the manufacturing sector, which places them among the so-called working poor in America. The study discusses these findings relative to other immigrant groups, and recommends policies, programs and self-help interventions for promoting economic integration among the refugees. (Author abstract)en_US
dc.description.bibliographicCitationUgbe, U. P. (2006). The new Americans: factors affecting economic integration among African refugees in New Hampshire. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduen_US
dc.description.degreeDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)en_US
dc.description.schoolSchool of Community Economic Developmenten_US
dc.digSpecsCreation software: ABBYY FineReader Professional 9.0; Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.3en_US
dc.format.extent1295805 bytesen_US
dc.format.extent280934 bytesen_US
dc.format.mediaTypePDFen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10474/347
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSouthern New Hampshire Universityen_US
dc.relation.requiresAdobe Acrobat Readeren_US
dc.rightsAuthor retains all ownership rights. Further reproduction in violation of copyright is prohibiteden_US
dc.rightsHolderUgbe, Utiang P.
dc.subject.lcshSouthern New Hampshire University -- Theses (Community Economic Development)en_US
dc.subject.otherrefugeesen_US
dc.subject.otheremploymenten_US
dc.subject.otherjob skillsen_US
dc.subject.otherhuman servicesen_US
dc.subject.otherearningsen_US
dc.subject.otherNew Hampshire (US)en_US
dc.titleThe new Americans : factors affecting economic integration among African refugees in New Hampshireen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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