Intersection Of Ethnicity Research Articles

The Intersectionality of Gender and Ethnicity in (Social) Mobility: Migration of Koryŏ saram Women from Uzbekistan to South Korea

Imagined ethnic ties and affinities have funneled many Koryŏ saram into South Korea—the divided homeland of their ancestors—as coethnic labor migrants and foreign spouses over the past decade. Based on in-depth interviews with ten Uzbekistan-born Koryŏ saram women who currently reside in South Korea with their Korean husbands and children, this paper examines intersections of gender and ethnicity in the women’s migratory paths and life experiences in the employment and family spheres. After contextualizing the ensuing influx of Koryŏ saram to South Korea from the perspectives of ethnic (return) migration and marriage migration, this study looks into how the ten informants’ skills are devalorized as coethnic migrants who lack Korean language skills but appear “Korean” to contemporary South Korean people. This research also investigates the ways that the incipient Koryŏ saram community allows them to seek new employment opportunities while juggling between work and family as a married migrant with children. By examining two salient social differentiations in (social) mobility of Koryŏ saram, this paper not only betokens the social position of Koryŏ saram in South Korea, but also underscores the agency of the coethnic migrant women who struggle to pursue inclusion in the affluent homeland.

The Form and Function of STEM Research Mentoring: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Focusing on Ethnically Diverse Undergraduates and Their Mentors

This mixed-methods study examines mentoring relationships in an ethnically diverse sample of undergraduates in majors related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Guided by an intersectionality framework, we examined whether features of research mentoring differ at the intersection of ethnicity and gender. Survey data from undergraduates ( N = 486; 76% members of underrepresented ethnic groups; 66% women) revealed ethnic and gender variation in the amount of mentoring that participants reported receiving. Findings also showed that higher levels of instrumental mentoring at the study’s outset predicted higher STEM self-efficacy 1 year later. This finding was not moderated by ethnicity or gender, suggesting that instrumental mentoring bolsters self-efficacy among students from diverse backgrounds. To supplement the quantitative findings, we collected open-ended data from a subset of participants’ mentors ( N = 97). Thematic analysis of these data provides insight into the range of strategies that mentors used to bolster students’ STEM self-efficacy.

Examining the Academic Motivation of a Diverse Student Population: A Consideration of Methodology

In this article, we review research that has examined the association between race, ethnicity, culture, and student motivation. We begin by describing potential problems regarding how race, ethnicity, and culture are defined in research. Next, we review some of the methods that have been used to examine the associations among race, ethnicity, culture, and several constructs related to academic motivation (e.g., valuing of education, ethnic identity, generational status, and other contextual factors). In this review, we highlight how different methodologies reflect different assumptions, and have led to different conclusions, about these associations. The article concludes with a consideration of future research questions and methodology, including important factors to consider when examining the intersection of race, ethnicity, culture, and academic motivation.

“We Are All Children of God”: The Intersectionality of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Immigration in Chinse Churches in Memphis, Tennessee

ABSTRACTThe Chinese (including the Taiwanese) are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the Greater Memphis area. In a southern midsize city like Memphis where Chinese are less concentrated, Chinese churches are major spaces for social gatherings among the Chinese community. By using ethnography, interviews, content analysis of church Web sites, program brochures, and testimonies, this article explores the intersectionality of religion, race, ethnicity, and immigration through the example of the Chinese Christian community in Memphis. The research demonstrates that Christian conversion among Chinese in the United States is not a linear assimilation. Rather, race, ethnicity, nationality and Christian identity are not exclusive but complementary. Christian identity legitimatizes American identity, preserves and reproduces Chinese identity, shapes pan-Chineseness, and serves as a “cushion” for Chinese American youth in the face of ambiguity between Chinese and American identity. Chinese churches are Chinese space in the United States, where Chinese Christians could be American in a Chinese way, and practice Chineseness in a Christian way. It is the intersectionality of multiple identities through churches that differentiates Chinese churches from nonethnic churches and nonreligious ethnic organizations.

Social Determinants of Perceived Discrimination among Black Youth: Intersection of Ethnicity and Gender.

Most of the existing sociological and epidemiological literature has focused on the protective effects of high socioeconomic status (SES) on population health through reducing exposure to risk factors and increasing human and material resources that can mitigate adversities. Recent studies, however, have documented poor mental health of high SES Blacks, particularly African American males and Caribbean Black females. The literature also shows a link between perceived discrimination and poor mental health. To better understand the extra costs of upward social mobility for minority populations, this study explored ethnic by gender variations in the associations between SES indicators and perceived discrimination in an ethnically diverse national sample of Black youth. This study included 810 African American and 360 Caribbean Black youth who were sampled in the National Survey of American Life—Adolescent supplement (NSAL-A). Three SES indicators (financial hardship, family income, and income to needs ratio) were the independent variables. The dependent variable was perceived (daily) discrimination. Age was the covariate. Ethnicity and gender were the focal moderators. Linear regressions were used for data analysis in the pooled sample and also based on the intersection of ethnicity and gender. Considerable gender by ethnicity variations were found in the patterns of the associations between SES indicators and perceived discrimination. Financial hardship was a risk factor for perceived discrimination in African American males only. High family income and income to needs ratio were associated with high (but not low) perceived discrimination in African American males and Caribbean Black females. SES indicators were not associated with perceived discrimination for African American females or Caribbean Black males. When it comes to Black youth, high SES is not always protective. Whether SES reduces or increases perceived discrimination among Black youth depends on the intersection of ethnicity by gender. Additional research is needed to understand why and how high SES increases exposure and vulnerability to discrimination for some groups of Black youth.

Review of female immigrant entrepreneurship research: Past findings, gaps and ways forward

We conduct a review of the literature on entrepreneurship by females with an ethnic minority background based on immigration to a new country and focus on entrepreneurial resources, entrepreneurial strategies, outcomes, and context. The intersection of gender and ethnicity influences entrepreneurship in specific ways that we discuss. The literature review indicates that particular (human, social, and financial) resources help shape entrepreneurial strategies, which in turn result in particular outcomes at the individual, firm, and societal levels. These factors are influenced by the co-ethnic and host country cultural and institutional contexts that we review. Situating our study in the mixed embeddedness perspective, we organize and synthesize extant research on the business endeavors of female immigrant entrepreneurs and discuss important gaps that provide opportunities for future research. We also address policy and practice implications.

Construção de gênero, laços afetivos e luto em Paris Is Burning

Resumo: O filme Paris Is Burning, de Jennie Livingston, tem suscitado críticas e elogios desde seu lançamento, em 1990. Seu retrato da cultura dos bailes no Harlem nos anos 80, a abordagem da sua singular economia de construção de gênero e as negociações que faz do cruzamento entre etnicidade e sexualidade inspiraram leituras desde o ativismo negro, o pós-estruturalismo e, mais recentemente, os estudos trans. Mas, além da questão da problematização da apropriação e da autoria, existem camadas do documentário que nos levam a refletir a respeito da construção de laços afetivos, de comunidade e da autonomia da agência de sujeitos marginalizados e sua resiliência em face da violência de gênero. Apesar da espetacularização oriunda dos bailes, o filme comunica dignidade de seus sujeitos e opera no espectador a experiência do luto, que propõe uma comunidade compartilhada que finalmente nos una a partir da diferença.

Extreme Violence and the Invisibility of Women Who Murder: The Intersectionality of Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity Equals Silence

Extremely violent deaths among socially marginalized populations are often invisible to society. Furthermore, extrapolating what is known about violent deaths in majority populations to highly intersectionalized populations may be inaccurate and misleading. Indeed, the majority of research on women's experiences to date has focused on heterosexual women, failing to identify and address the contextual risks for sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) women, especially SGM women of color. One consequence is that we are less informed about violent deaths among black SGM women and this greatly impedes our ability to create effective prevention interventions. We argue that an intersectional lens is essential to determining how the multifaceted confluence of race/ethnicity, gender, class, and sexual orientation operates as risk clusters for extreme violence. We make two recommendations aimed at increasing research, policy, and effective prevention interventions for mitigating extreme violence in SGM women: (1) sexual orientation and gender identity should be recorded in death reports for the decedent and the perpetrator across the administrative records and (2) sexual and gender minority violence prevention programming must be inclusive, and identify and target the drivers associated with the intersectionality statuses of racial/ethnic minority SGM women.

Social workers’ challenges in the assessment of child abuse and maltreatment: intersections of class and ethnicity in child protection cases

Defining and assessing child abuse and maltreatment has long been a challenge to both researchers and practitioners in social work. Taking an intersectional perspective, this article explores the meaning of class and ethnicity in professionals’ investigations and assessments in child protection referrals. Overall, findings show that class power was particularly actualised for caseworkers facing parents with high social status. In these cases, the parents often resisted the investigation and the caseworkers therefore had difficulties in disclosing or defining the abuse. In comparison, culture was often made relevant in cases involving minority ethnic parents, where abuse was often actualised as corporal punishment. This practice tended to be seen as a cultural issue rather than related to social problems. In these cases, class power was not articulated. The article sheds light on intersections of class and ethnicity that may affect social work practice with children at risk of abuse and maltreatment.

Outsiders in their own nation: Electoral violence and politics of ‘internal’ displacement in Kenya

This article foregrounds the overlapping continuum of local to global fault lines that structure the human security experiences of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kenya. Drawing on data from the 2007–2008 electoral violence-induced displacement of ethnic minorities in the Rift Valley region, the article discusses how the intersections of ethnicity, national politics, land rights, and global humanitarian politics on displacement positioned IDPs as outsiders in their own nation and how this shapes their ability to live secure lives. By so doing, the study transcends nation-state border focused forced migration to question the relevance of dichotomizing IDPs and refugees, which shapes their protection. The author argues for the need to critically examine the less visible and fluid borders which displace people from their homelands in order to address the human security of all who are forced to flee from their homes regardless of whether they have crossed national boundaries.

Vulnerable Women in a Thriving Country: An Analysis of Twenty-First-Century Domestic Workers in Peru and Recommendations for Future Research

Paid domestic workers represent a historically discriminated-against group comprising mostly ethnically marginalized, resource-poor migrant women. In twenty-first-century Peru, social and labor rights have not improved significantly for those in the sector despite more than a decade of sustained economic growth that took off in 2002 and lasted until 2014. Though the present national trend suggests that the absolute number of workers in this sector is dropping and that the tendency of workers to “live in” with their employers is reversing (trends that might signal improved working conditions for those in the sector), significant gaps still exist between the rights of domestic workers as compared to other workers. This article analyzes the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity and/or migration status, and class as one possible explanation for the continued vulnerability of paid domestic workers. We examine statistical information on the present situation in Peru, including a trends analysis of the National Household Survey from 2004 to 2013, and share the results of our qualitative research on the sector for the same period. We conclude with recommendations for future studies.

Muslim researcher researching Muslim youth: reflexive notes on critical ethnography, positionality and representation

ABSTRACTAs a Muslim researcher conducting a critical ethnography about/with/for Muslim youth and their school experiences, at this time of intensified Islamophobia and overwhelming discourses of hate against Muslims, the boundaries of the personal and the academic become blurry and confusing. This paper emerges from my subjective/academic experiences as a Muslim researcher, and my reflections on reflexivity, positionality and representation while conducting my ethnographic research in a high-school setting with Muslim youth. In this paper, I present a review of the different concepts of critical ethnography that are framing my research decisions and I highlight the complexity of the insider/outsider positionality for a Muslim researcher doing research with Muslim youth and the intersections of religion, gender, class, ethnicity and age in positioning her in the field. The paper presents different ethical dilemmas that I have encountered during the first six months of my fieldwork.

Trends in food insecurity among California residents from 2001 to 2011: Inequities at the intersection of immigration status and ethnicity

Although immigrants are healthier than non-immigrants on numerous outcomes, the reverse appears to be true with regards to food insecurity. Most studies ignore heterogeneity in the risk for food insecurity within immigration status and by ethnicity, even though significant variation likely exists. We consider how immigration status and ethnicity are related to trends in food insecurity among Latinos and Asians in California from 2001 through 2011. Data come from the 2001 to 2011 restricted California Health Interview Survey (n=245,679). We categorized Latinos and Asians as US-born, naturalized/legal permanent residents (naturalized/LPR), and non-LPRs (students, temporary workers, refugees, and undocumented persons). Multivariable weighted logistic regression analyses assessed temporal trends over the 10-year period after adjustment for demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, and program participation. Across this period, US-born Asians reported similar levels of food insecurity as US-born Whites. Conversely, Latinos, regardless of immigration status or nativity, and Asian immigrants (i.e., naturalized/LPR and non-LPR) reported greater food insecurity than US-born Whites. Further, from 2001 through 2009, non-LPR Latinos reported higher risk of food insecurity than naturalized/LPR Latinos. Thus, food insecurity differs between ethnic groups, but also differs within ethnic group by immigration status. Efforts to reduce food insecurity should consider the additional barriers to access that are faced by immigrants, particularly those without legal permanent residency.

Perceived Need for Mental Health Care: The Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status.

Racial/ethnic minority populations underutilize mental health services, even in the presence of psychiatric disorder, and differences in perceived need may contribute to these disparities. Using the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys, we assessed how the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status affect perceived need. We analyzed a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (18 years or older; N=14,906), including non-Latino whites, Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans, and Afro-Caribbeans. Logistic regressions were estimated for the total sample, a clinical need subsample (meets lifetime diagnostic criteria), and a no disorder subsample. Perceived need varies by gender and nativity, but these patterns are conditional on race/ethnicity. Men are less likely than women to have a perceived need but only among non-Latino whites and African Americans. Foreign-born immigrants have lower perceived need than U.S.-born persons, only among Asian Americans. Intersectional approaches to understanding perceived need may help uncover social processes that lead to disparities in mental health care.

Contextual Embeddedness of Women's Entrepreneurial Agency Formation

In this study, I offer a relational analysis of entrepreneurial agency formation by paying attention to the intersectionality of ethnicity, class and gender. The study emphasizes the importance of ...

Gender, Madness, Religion, and Iranian-American Identity: Observations on a 2006 Murder Trial in Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Using participant observation, oral history interviews, and a study of court transcripts, Internet chats, and press coverage of a 2006 murder trial of an Iranian-American man in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, we can better appreciate the dynamic intersection of ethnicity, religion, and gender in constructing the social identity of Iranian-Americans. Brian Hosayn Yasipour, who immigrated to the United States in 1969, was convicted of murder in the third degree for killing his four-year-old daughter in 2001 during a custody dispute with his estranged, Iranian-born wife. He managed to avoid the death penalty. Debates about his guilt in America hinged on assessments of his mental state at the time of the crime and this, in turn, hinged on debates about how normative his actions would have been in Iran. Until his arrest, Brian had led a highly mobile life—moving back and forth between America, where he lived as a Christian, and Iran, where he visited as a Muslim. Was he a calculating Iranian-Islamic patriarch, outraged at the defiance of his wife and the attitudes of American courts toward his paternal rights? Or was he, per the court transcripts, a “white Christian” and survivor of childhood rape back in Iran, who lapsed into madness under the strain of his second divorce? Brian actively blurred these issues in court appearances before and after the murder—often expressing his agency in terms of preserving his imaginary and physical mobility.

Towards an intersectionality of race and ethnicity

As we write this response to our piece, one group of sociologists is preparing to attend a Critical Race conference in Tennessee, while another is preparing to attend an Immigration conference in B...

How best to evangelize to nonbelievers: Cultural persuasion in American and Chinese Indonesian evangelical Christian discourse on relational evangelism

ABSTRACTIn this analysis, I present a cross-cultural comparison of U.S. mainstream evangelical and Chinese Indonesian Evangelical Christian (CIEC) discourse on best ways to implement a popular evangelical Christian practice known as “relational evangelism.” My aim in conducting this comparison is two-fold: (a) to demonstrate how religion and ethnicity intersect in the communicative act of persuasion and (b) to unveil how these persuasive acts reflect differing cultural premises of personhood and relations. As each group attempts to persuade their members to share their faith with non-Christians in their lives, they reveal culture-specific limits of what counts as reasonable action.

Ethnoreligious mixed marriages among Palestinian1 women and Jewish men in Israel: negotiating the breaking of barriers

ABSTRACTThis study explores the way intermarriage between Palestinian women and their Jewish spouses occurs in a context where historical and structural inequalities underlie the relationship between the two groups, and the way these women negotiate their crossing of ethnic, religious and social borders under these circumstances. Studying Jewish-Palestinian intermarriage enhances our understanding of intermarriages between spouses who differ in ethnicity, religion and culture, and in which one spouse belongs to an indigenous—not immigrant—minority; it also enhances our understanding of the intersectionality of ethnicity, religion and gender in the context of intermarriage where gender relations are tightly controlled by society.1 Using in-depth interviews with ten Palestinian women married to Jewish men, the findings reveal that social change and educational expansion were the main factors underlying the appearance of ethno-mixed marriage among Palestinian women in Israel. Nevertheless, endogamy weakened among the selected group, where several social factors facilitated intermarriage. Negotiating spousal family relations was affected mainly by the way in which Israeli society defines, constructs, and perpetuates the ethnic and religious borders and the inclusionary-exclusionary relations with the Arab minority. This explains why, despite the social change taking place among Palestinians in Israel, very few of these types of marriages take place.

Keeping the Culture of Death Alive: One Hundred Years of a Japanese American’s Family Mortuary

This article explores a Japanese American family mortuary and its 100 years of service and involvement with the Japanese American community in Los Angeles through five generations of the Fukui family. The Fukui Mortuary is Los Angeles’s oldest Japanese American family mortuary and has provided the Japanese American community with services relating to death and bereavement for nearly a century. Through autoethnographic and ethnographic methods, this research examines a site within the Japanese American community after World War II where death, ethnicity, nationality and gender intersect. Studying the cultural and traditional options people have to negotiate, participate and engage in one’s cultural practices during a time of death allows us to investigate the structures of power, economics and institutions that are embedded in our histories and societies. Through the mobilization and service of cultural traditions related to death, the Fukui mortuary contributes to the story of Japanese Americans and how ideas of death, religion, gender and ethnicity are situated in community involvement and the genealogy of the Fukui family.