Socioeconomic Diversity Among African Immigrants in the United States: An Intra-African Immigrant Comparison

Recent studies on Black immigrants in the USA report higher than average socioeconomic and educational attainment for African immigrants. Based on an intra-African immigrant comparison, we examine the generalizability of this finding to African groups of differing countries and regions using data from the 1990 and 2000 5 % U.S. census Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS). We specifically ask whether hourly earnings of African immigrants vary by region of origin. Results of our analyses reveal that sending region is an important determinant of variations in hourly earnings among African immigrants. Also, data indicate that both race and gender are significantly associated with earning outcomes; with the earnings of males and whites significantly higher than those of females and blacks. We discuss these findings in the context of the so-called “black immigrant success story.”     

Female Labor Force Participation,Status Integration and Suicide, 1950–1969

ABSTRACT: Using Census data covering the 29 year period starting in 1950 this, study tests the hypothesis that (1) female labor force participation may result in more married women committing suicide due to the strain of household and outside working responsibilities and that (2) female labor force participation may also be associated with higher rates of male suicide due to the fact that it represents apparent failure of the husband as sole breadwinner ( Stack, 1978 ). Results show that during the 1950's male suicide was not associated with growth in the female labor force, but female suicide was. During the 1960s male suicide was negatively associated with female labor force participation, but the opposite was true for females. It is argued that working women represented a weakening of norms concerning sex roles. Apparently as more and more women entered the labor force, role conflict did ensue, but contrary to the above hypothesis it only increased female suicide potential. These results are discussed in terms of different normative sex role contexts of the 1950s and the 1960s.     

Male and Female Pronoun Use in U.S. Books Reflects Women’s Status, 1900–2008

The status of women in the United States varied considerably during the 20th century, with increases 1900–1945, decreases 1946–1967, and considerable increases after 1968. We examined whether changes in written language, especially the ratio of male to female pronouns, reflected these trends in status in the full text of nearly 1.2?million U.S. books 1900–2008 from the Google Books database. Male pronouns included he, him, his, himself and female pronouns included she, her, hers, and herself. Between 1900 and 1945, 3.5 male pronouns appeared for every female pronoun, increasing to 4.5 male pronouns during the postwar era of the 1950s and early 1960s. After 1968, the ratio dropped precipitously, reaching 2 male pronouns per female pronoun by the 2000s. From 1968 to 2008, the use of male pronouns decreased as female pronouns increased. The gender pronoun ratio was significantly correlated with indicators of U.S. women’s status such as educational attainment, labor force participation, and age at first marriage as well as women’s assertiveness, a personality trait linked to status. Books used relatively more female pronouns when women’s status was high and fewer when it was low. The results suggest that cultural products such as books mirror U.S. women’s status and changing trends in gender equality over the generations.     

Gender Ideology and Motherhood: The Consequences of Race on Earnings

Using a nationally representative US sample, this study explores the relationship between gender ideology and the earnings of African American and white mothers over a 10-year period (1988–1998). We further investigate how factors related to fertility (i.e., age at first birth and the number of children) impact earnings for these mothers. Findings show, that regardless of race, a conservative gender ideology reduces women’s earnings but less so for African Americans compared to whites. With regard to fertility, the number of children is detrimental to the earnings of white mothers, but has no effect on the African American mothers in our sample. However, early childbearing does depress the earnings of African American women more so than for their white counterparts.     

The incorporation of Mexican women in seasonal migration: a study of gender differences

"This article compares sex differences in migratory behaviors, work patterns and conjugal relations in a cohort of male and female immigrants who move seasonally between Mexico and the United States. Gender comparisons are made using survey data and information from in-depth group interviews. The findings indicate that among Mexicans immigration to the United States reinstates men's traditional roles as providers while making women assume non-traditional roles. Female role expansion, through employment in the U.S., strongly influences conjugal relations in the direction of more equality. In contrast, failure to enter the American labor force implies a role restriction resulting in a loss of autonomy for many immigrant women." (SUMMARY IN SPA)     

Confirming the structure of the dual process model of diversity amongst public sector South African employees

We set out to validate the structure of the Dual Process Model of Workplace Diversity in a South African work setting contrasting black and white African employees. The study participants were a convenience sample of 296 public service employees (black = 73.3%, female = 59%, 90.7% between the age 18 and 40 years; white = 25.7%, female = 58%, 67.1% between the age of 18 and 40 years). They completed measures of acculturation antecedents (positive and negative conditions), mediators (integration as positive strategy to deal with diversity and separation as negative strategy), and outcomes (work success and ill-health). Using multi-group path analysis, we found race-based invariance of the Dual Process Model, with black employees self-reporting diversity relations in a more favourable way compared to white employees. We conclude that the Dual Process Model is supported for research use in the South African workplaces.     

Changes in Predictors of Gender Role Ideologies Among Women: A Multivariate Analysis

Using data from the National Opinion ResearchCenter's General Social Surveys for 1974-1994, weanalyze changes in gender role ideology among women inthe U.S. We focus on women tied to previous research indicating increasing labor force participationamong various groups of women such as those withpreschool children and those of Hispanic origin, and thepurported egalitarian impact of labor forceparticipation on gender role attitudes. The General SocialSurveys include 9833 women who responded to the genderrole questions, with 1132 black (11.5%) and 351 Hispanic(3.6%) women. Our results refine earlier bivariate findings about the impact of specific types oflife experiences and family power dynamics on women'sviews about appropriate roles for men and women. Mostimportantly, we find that there may be an ubiquitous shift toward more egalitarian gender roleattitudes among women in the U.S. regardless of theirindividual characteristics and circumstances.     

Psychological validation of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in South Africa: Method effects and dimensionality in black African and white university students

The study examined the factor structure and cross-cultural validity of the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) in a sample of South African students (N = 862; black African = 67%, female = 71.5%). Alternative a priori CFA models (unidimensional, bi-dimensional and unidimensional models comprising either latent method factor or correlated residuals) were evaluated. Results indicated that the RSES in black and white South African university students is represented by a unidimensional model with correlated residuals of negatively and positively phrased items. Findings also suggested method effects on black African students to be significantly associated with negatively worded items compared to white students. Method bias effects appear to show for some RSES items and this may have important implications for the cross-cultural utility of the RSES in South Africa.     

Comparative earnings of Greek Cypriot women and men

Utilizing government labor statistical reports, which are based upon a sample of approximately 17% of all Greek employees in the labor force in Cyprus, it was found that females receive substantially less pay than do males for the same type of work performed. Although the difference in pay between men and women is greater for the lower incomed wage earners, there are also marked differences in pay between men and women among the higher incomed salaried workers. In addition, the gap between female and male earnings has been widening rather than narrowing during recent years. The cultural factors which serve to perpetuate sex discrimination in earnings are identified and discussed.     

African American women—education for what?

The article examines the long commitment of the black community to the education of its women as a tool toward liberation and the resulting emergence of a new genre of American intellectualism. The article explores the role of women as carriers and creditors of African American culture in the community, while distinguishing between intellect workers (those who distribute and apply culture) and intellectuals (those who create culture). In addition, the article explores how African American women, while providing a perspective of their own, have been uniquely able to bridge the concerns of black men and white women. It is the emergence of this new American radical intellectualism, as represented by African American women, that potentially comprises a significant and critical force within the American ideology. This new intelligentsia, the article surmises, is only limited by the prejudices and discrimination present in a racist, sexist, and classist society.     

Race/ethnicity and sex in U.S. occupations, 1970–2010: Implications for research,practice, and policy

We used census data on the civilian non-institutional adult population to analyze trends in labor force participation by race/ethnicity and sex in U.S. occupations from 1970 to 2010 in decennial periods. We examined these data for the main effects and interactions of race/ethnicity and sex across the total labor market and within 35 detailed occupations. Results from a log-linear analysis revealed that, as a whole (across race/ethnicity), more women participated in the labor force from 1970 to 2010. The proportions of working racial/ethnic minorities to both the population and the people in the labor force increased across all decades except for Black men. Although White (Caucasian) men continuously comprised the largest racial/ethnic–sex group working across five decades in absolute numbers, their percentage of the total working population declined from 1970 (54%) to 2010 (37%). In our analyses of 35 occupations, significant sex differences within racial/ethnic groups emerged. Overall, with some exceptions, Asian men and women and White women were more likely to be absorbed into occupations typically associated with professional status whereas Black, Hispanic, and American Indian men and women were more likely to be absorbed into occupations typically associated with low skill, low wages, and low status. Implications for the role of psychologists in future research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Sex-role change, anomie and female suicide: a test of alternative Durkheimian explanations.

Durkheim's influential book, Suicide, provides general (economic) anomie, conjugal anomie, and sex-role convergence explanations of changes in suicide rates under conditions of social change. We used trend analyses of American suicide rates and female/male suicide ratios from 1950 to 1984 and the regression of the ratios on female educational attainment, white female labor force participation, white fertility rates, and divorce rates to examine these explanations. The general anomie explanation of female suicide trends is supported for the middle-aged (30 to 54 years) but not for the young (10 to 30 years) or the elderly (55 to 74 years). The conjugal anomie proposition is at best supported for age groups between 15 and 44 when general anomie is not pronounced. The role convergence explanation is rejected for all 13 5-year-age-groups. General anomie may not be a viable explanation of suicide trends for groups actively supporting relevant social changes or not yet tradition-bound or for groups whose retirement status reduces the importance of some social changes.     

Personality functioning in people living with HIV

This investigation adopted a multiple case study approach to determine the personality functioning in people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA). Participants comprised a convenience sample of four PLWHA (male?=?3, female?=?1). The majority of the participants were white (n?=?3) and one was black African. Only one participant was married at the time of participation. Data on aspects such as their suicidal ideation, affect, problem solving styles, ego functioning, self-perception, and interpersonal functioning were collected using the Rorschach inkblot test and clinical interview. The data were actuarially analysed and organised under themes, namely; dominant personality style, capacity for control and stress, situational related stress, affect, interpersonal relations and self-perception. Findings revealed that participants had high levels of potential mood disorders and interpersonal difficulties for which targeted psychological services may be needed.     

Latin-American immigrant women and mental health: differences according to their rural or urban origin

Spain is one of the EU countries that receive most immigrants, especially from Latin America. The process of migration implies a high level of stress what may have repercussions for the mental health of immigrants. The purposes of this study were: (a) to determine whether the degree of mental health of immigrant women differs according to their rural or urban origin, (b) to compare the mental health of immigrant women with that of the female normative sample of host population (Spain). A sample of 186 Latin American immigrant women (142 from urban areas and 44 from rural areas) was recruited in Barcelona by means of a consecutive case method. A structured interview and the SCL-90-R were administered. The results indicated that the immigrant women from rural origin reported higher levels of psychological symptomatology than those from urban areas. Immigrants reported higher levels of psychological symptomatology than the native female population and in most of the psychological symptoms exceeded 90% of the native Spanish population. Migration is a powerful stressor which may lead to psychological distress. Being female of rural origin and being in an illegal situation is related with an increase in symptomatology.     

West African Immigrant Perspectives on Female Genital Cutting: Experiences,Attitudes, and Implications for Mental Health Service Providers

This small pilot study analyzed the experiences of female genital cutting (FGC) among West African immigrants in New York City from three West African countries (the Gambia, Guinea, and Mali) with FGC prevalence rates of 76, 97, and 89%, respectively, among girls and women aged 15 to 49 years. Nine women participated in two focus group sessions. In the first group, five female participants ranged in age from18–20, and in the second, four participants ranged in age from 31 to 44. Focus group data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Despite the small sample size, the findings of this exploratory study highlight important aspects of immigrant women’s experiences regarding FGC and indicate the need for further exploration. Participants drew from personal experiences to discuss FGC and their views of the practice. Salient themes that emerged included the secretive and violent nature of the practice, the primacy of matriarchal decision-makers, the fear among immigrant mothers that their children would be subjected to FGC without their consent, and health care encounters in the USA. The findings of this study are considered in light of their implications for research, service provision, and policy.     

The Effects of Person-Environment Fit and External Locus of Control on Organizational Affective Commitment: a Study of Immigrant Wives in Taiwan

The National Immigration Agency of Taiwan reported that, by 2014, more than 498,000 immigrant spouses were registered in Taiwanese households, 91 % of which was female. Immigrant wives are now a significant part of Taiwanese society, and they are an important aspect of the labor force in Taiwan’s economy. However, they face major challenges in the workplace, which influences their work outcomes, results in a reduced labor force for enterprises, and increases societal costs. This pioneering study employed the person-environment fit and locus of control concepts from the organizational behavior field to address this issue. A sample of 130 immigrant wives from Indonesia and Vietnam living in Taiwan was surveyed. The results of a hierarchical regression analysis found that immigrant wives’ person-job fit and person-supervisor fit significantly influenced their affective commitments to their workplaces. An external locus of control significantly weakened the relationship between person-environment fit and affective commitment. The contributions and implications of the study results were discussed.     

Immigrant Enclave Thesis Reconsidered: Case of Chinese Immigrants in the Enclave and Mainstream Economy in Canada

Since the development of the immigrant enclave thesis, there has been a disagreement regarding whether the immigrant enclave hurts or benefits individual immigrants’ earnings. The controversy mainly arises from the imprecise way by which enclave participation is measured and from the difference in performance between entrepreneurs and workers. This study uses data from the 2006 Census of Canada to examine how Chinese immigrants who participate in the mainstream economy and enclave economy differ in earnings. Using “the language used most often at work” to determine enclave participation, the study finds that actual and net earnings of Chinese immigrants in the enclave are lower than those of their counterparts in the mainstream economy. However, when the interaction between human capital and enclave participation is considered, human capital brings a net negative return to enclave participants, but at the same time, a positive effect associated with enclave participation. The positive effect may be understood as coming from unmeasured ethnic and cultural features of the enclave that provide a cushion to lessen the magnitude of income disadvantages in the enclave. The study suggests that there is evidence to support both sides of the debate: enclave participants have lower net returns, but the enclave provides a cushioning effect in reducing earnings disparities. The study suggests that integration policy towards immigrants may consider immigrant enclaves as providing some support to immigrants to soften some disadvantages, but enclaves do not offer the same opportunities as the mainstream economy.     

The participation of females in the labor force and rates of personal violence (suicide and homicide)

This study explored the relationship between the participation of married women in the labor force, both part-time and full-time, and rates of personal violence (suicide and homicide) in the continental United States. The participation of married women in the labor force was related to homicide rates. Homicide rates were higher in states where a greater percentage of married women worked full-time. In contrast, suicide rates were more strongly related to indices of social integration (e.g., interstate migration and divorce rates). These results are discussed in terms of differences in social attitudes in the various regions of the United States and the stresses created by women's working.     

Adolescent marriage and childbearing: the long-term economic outcome, Canada in the 1980s

The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-term economic outcomes (education, labor force participation, occupation, and income) associated with female adolescent marriage and childbearing. The 1981 Canadian census is the data source for all women in Canada at age 30, controlling for age at marriage and at first birth. The data suggest that women at age 30 in Canada are in the best economic circumstances when they remain single or when they marry at age 20 or older and either remain childless or begin their childbearing at age 25 or older. The implications of these findings are discussed.