Young Newcomers Research Articles

Negotiating Futures: How Schools Shape Belonging for Young Newcomers in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Negotiating Futures: How Schools Shape Belonging for Young Newcomers in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Looking through the lens: a photovoice study examining access to services for newcomer children

ABSTRACT Purpose Canadian new immigrant families (also known as newcomers) encounter challenges navigating systems when trying to access programmes critical for their children’s healthy development. The purpose of this study is to understand how newcomer families find and use early childhood programmes and services from the perspective of families and early childhood educators (ECEs) working within a settlement organization. Methods Using photovoice methodology, newcomer family members (n = 8) with young children and ECEs (n = 6) participated in a series of virtual workshops to share photos and reflect on their experiences. Results Participants discussed the systemic barriers that obstructed newcomer families’ access to services for young newcomer children. Financial challenges due to unemployment/underemployment, language and cultural differences were emphasized. Despite these barriers and challenges, participants shared how culturally responsive programmes enhanced their connections to programmes and services. Both groups of participants discussed the critical role of social networks in supporting newcomers to use programmes by helping families become aware of available services and assistance with various processes such as registration. Conclusions This research illustrates the lived experiences of newcomer families and identifies opportunities to address inequities, improve early childhood programmes, and enhance families’ access to programmes and services.

The Mountain Minor

The Mountain Minor

JUST LIKE ANY STUDENT: FACILITATING FACTORS FOR THE TRANSOTION FROM INTERNATIONAL CONNECTION CLASSES (ISK) TO DUTCH SECONDARY EDUCATION

Young newcomers in the Netherlands from the age of twelve often start their education in International Connection Classes (Internationale Schakelklas; ISK), where they learn Dutch and get acquainted with the Dutch education system. Afterwards, they can transfer to a secondary school. Students often enroll in lower levels of secondary education than their cognitive capacities would allow. Moreover, they are getting used to a new school while also getting used to a new host country. This could impede the newcomer’s chances to full participation and development. The Capability Approach and Biesta’s interdependent functions of education call for additional measures to be taken for minorities, in line with an equity stance. This phenomenological study investigated which factors could facilitate the transition to secondary education for young newcomers. A document review was conducted and four (n = 4) ISK-experts and seven (n = 7) former ISK-students were interviewed. The results of the study point out that an individualized school culture and social support are key to assure a smooth transition to the new school. The conclusion of this study is that young newcomers wish to be ‘just’ a student, but in reality they are not. They need additional support with getting used to the new school. Minimal measures are recommended in order to appreciate young newcomers’ needs to not stand out, but nevertheless have support available.

The effect of pursuing a gender-nontraditional profession on young newcomers' occupational self-efficacy via frequency of evaluative feedback

We investigated the effect of young newcomers' pursuit of gender-nontraditional professions on their occupational self-efficacy after starting work via the perceived frequency of evaluative feedback from others in their companies. Our research model was based on social–cognitive career theory and tokenism theory. We surveyed a longitudinal sample of 1269 adolescents (female: 44 %) at the end of compulsory school (ninth grade in Switzerland) and at the end of their first year of work experience as young newcomers. A structural equation model with multigroup comparison by gender showed no gender differences. Young female and male newcomers' pursuit of gender-nontraditional apprenticeship professions significantly affected their occupational self-efficacy after 1 year of work experience, mediated by the perceived frequency of evaluative feedback they received from coworkers. We controlled for the effects of newcomers' preentry occupational self-efficacy and preentry expectations about work conditions, as well as the effect of conscientiousness on occupational self-efficacy after 1 year of work experience. We further controlled for the effect of young newcomers' conscientiousness on perceived frequency of evaluative feedback from others in their companies. Our findings clarify the crucial role of frequent evaluative feedback from coworkers for occupational self-efficacy among young newcomers in gender-nontraditional professions. The longitudinal effect of preentry occupational self-efficacy on occupational self-efficacy after starting work underlines the importance of young newcomers' job preparation.

When Arriving Is Not Enough—Constraints in Access to Education and Employment Opportunities for Migrant Youth

Due to an array of individual, institutional and structural factors, several constraints hinder the access of migrant youth to education, training and employment in Catalonia. In this article, we explore the conditions in which young migrants access the education and training system in Catalonia (Spain). Drawing on the theory of opportunity structures, we highlight three constraints that narrow their education and training opportunities. Our approach runs away from individualistic explanations of success or failure. The research draws on 5 focus groups and 10 in-depth interviews with young migrants who were participating in a training scheme in 2019 and 2020. Our results point out three types of conditioning factors that constrain opportunities and sometimes become unsurmountable barriers. Firstly, their migrant status narrows their opportunities for education, training and employment. Secondly, current administrative procedures eventually disrupt the ways in which certain young newcomers follow the mainstream education and training pathways. Finally, certain circumstances have inflicted socio-emotional wounds on young newcomers, not only because they have left their country and suffered from socio-economic deprivation, but also because they have been compelled to suddenly adjust their expectations.

Facilitating goal-directed transition projects for young adult newcomers to Canada: a qualitative study of a brief supportive counseling intervention

ABSTRACT Transition to life in a new country represents complex and challenging tasks for young adults. This transition can be conceptualized as goal-directed action. To date, the literature has not described how these transitions intersect in the goal-directed life projects in which young newcomers engage. Similarly, the literature has not reported attempts to facilitate these processes through brief, goal-oriented supportive counseling interventions. In this study, 12 newcomers to Canada, aged 20–34 years, participated in an individual counseling support intervention intended to assist them to identify and engage in their transition-oriented projects. Qualitative data were collected using the action-project method over approximately a six-month period. Findings indicated that participants engaged in a range of transition projects, thematically grouped as relationship, career, and identity. The findings also revealed information about participants’ engagement with the intervention as part of their transition projects. Implications for research and practice are drawn.

The Art of Philologist in 15 Points (for use by young newcomers to the discipline)

The reader of this note will find a series of short arguments that summarize the characteristics which I consider essential to a philologist’s work. The range of typologies and methods of philological approach to literary texts in the vernacular is so wide that its boundaries cannot be easily defined. Moreover, in philology, each case is a case in and of itself that is to be dealt with and solved in specific and particular ways each time; nothing or almost nothing can be generalized.

Review: Israel as a Modern Architectural Experimental Lab, 1948–1978

Review: <i>Israel as a Modern Architectural Experimental Lab, 1948–1978</i>

Young Newcomers’ Convoy of Social Relations: The Supportive Network of Accompanied Refugee Minors in Urban Belgium

AbstractSocial networks play a crucial role in migration processes, facilitating adaption and well-being. Yet, accessing and establishing supportive ties in the host society are far from evident. This study voices the ways by which Accompanied Refugee Minors (ARM) (re)create supportive networks across multiple borders shortly after arrival into an urban environment, by applying Kahn and Antonucci’s Convoy Model of social relations. In order to do so, 25 ARM who recently migrated to urban Belgium were interviewed. Most of the ARM have little links to their new living environment. Their fragile networks are homogenous and seldomly connect to the urban context they live in. This group of newcomers is positioned in an intermediate position: on the one hand, they are mostly seen as ‘accompanied’ children where parents are seen as primary source of support; on the other hand, they are young refugees, both enhancing exclusionary aspects in their connection to the broader society surrounding them.

Diversity is not the Enemy: Promoting Encounters between University Students and Newcomers

In today’s globalized world with dynamic processes of political, social, and societal change (Mergner et al., 2019) the university should be a place of encounter between people with different (cultural) backgrounds. The learning arrangement presented here therefore initiates intercultural exchange and aims to help students see diversity as an asset rather than a challenge (Roos, 2019). To this end, an intercultural project was initiated at TU Dortmund in Germany in 2017. In the context of different learning environments future teachers were invited to have encounters with young newcomers through a nearly completely self‐managed learning arrangement. The students were prepared for the encounters in focused courses dealing with theoretical backgrounds and didactic concepts. They would then prepare the lessons with the newcomers. In the context of this learning arrangement the following questions were important: What did the university students expect with regard to the encounter with newcomer students from schools? How did they prepare the lessons? What did students and newcomers think about the encounters later? What have they learned? And what do these reflections mean for inclusive and intercultural teacher education at universities? In the project we could observe that the didactic approach supports the students’ level of sensitivity towards differences and encourages future teachers to train the education of newcomers in a non‐judgmental framework (Bartz &amp;amp; Bartz, 2018). Based on a selection of qualitative empirical findings (ethnographic approach during six lessons in a period of two years and 147 interviews including the students’ and newcomers’ points of view about their learning encounters at TU Dortmund), this article discusses opportunities to create more innovative spaces for inclusive practices and cultures under the restricted terms of a mass university.

Bridging Cultural Identities: Examining Newcomer’s Post-Secondary School Integration Experiences Through an Arts-Based Ethnographic Approach

Many modern emerging adults undertake the task of identity development while navigating life on a post-secondary campus, where they assimilate to new social and learning environments. Emerging adult newcomers (i.e. immigrants) must navigate additional developmental challenges as they reconcile their cultural, ethnic, and personal identity development simultaneously while facing systemic barriers to post-secondary integration. We employed an arts-based engagement ethnography to investigate the post-secondary integration experiences of 10 emerging adults from a person-first perspective. Through cultural probes, individual semi-structured interviews, and focus groups, we identified four key structures to participants’ integration experience: fitting in (through assimilation and accommodation), biculturalism, managing familial expectations, and being a newcomer in the classroom. This research clarifies the key experiences shaping young newcomer identity development and highlights the profound ways in which young newcomers negotiate and reconcile their intersecting identities while integrating into new education contexts following migration.

Making a successful transition to work: A fresh look at organizational support for young newcomers from an individual-driven career adjustment perspective

Although career transitions occur several times during people’s life course, a significant turning point may be the school-to-work transition (STWT) of young adults migrating from structured academic environments to chaotic organizational setups. In the field of newcomer socialization, successful STWTs, particularly in the post-employment phase, have been widely researched, although the studies have been dominated by an “organization-driven” perspective on what motivates young newcomers to adjust themselves to organizational career norms. By examining “individual-driven” career adjustment pathways that focus on the self-enhancement effect involved in organizational support, this research addresses the challenge of how young newcomers with self-directed career orientations experience STWT success without compromising their career-growth concerns. Drawing on theories of self-enhancement and self-verification, we investigated a model wherein (1) a perceived match of individual and organizational career plans mediates the relationship between newcomers’ perceived organizational support (POS) and their STWT success, and (2) protean career orientations moderate the anticipated positive relationship between POS and perceived career match, thus conditioning the mediation. Results from four-wave time-lagged data supported the predicted effects, even after controlling for organization-driven adjustment factors. The findings contribute to the ongoing debate on “individualization” and the “Protean Paradox” in career management literature.

The Role of the Start-Up Aid for Young Farmers in the Adoption of Innovative Agricultural Activities: The Case of Aloe Vera

The poor generational renewal has been identified as a key issue for the EU policy that undermines the restructuring of the agricultural sector and the revitalisation of rural areas. The start-up aid for young farmers is one of the main EU-driven policy measures that try to mitigate this trend, by facilitating the initial investment of young newcomers in agriculture. At the same time, innovative crops with appealing characteristics are proposed as promising alternatives with high socioeconomic and low environmental impacts. Recently, a draft new call of the start-up aid for young farmers measure has been set under public consultation in Greece, which significantly alters the requirements and the level of support of the beneficiaries, compared to the previous one. The aim of this study is to explore the consequences of this change to the desirability to invest in the organic aloe vera crop, one of the leading innovating crops in Greece. In this study, taking into consideration the embedded risk and uncertainty, we utilise a stochastic version of the Net Present Value (NPV) analysis, a common discount cash flows method to detect the desirability of an investment. Results indicate that the potential alteration of the start-up aid for young farmers deteriorates the desirability of this investment and thus prevents farmers from its adoption. The analysis provides useful insights by highlighting risk factors and the possible impacts of policy measures on the desirability of innovative crops; thus, it can be useful both for investors and policymakers.

Does youth participation increase the democratic legitimacy of UNFCCC-orchestrated global climate change governance?

ABSTRACT Youth NGOs have participated in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for over a decade, yet research into their experiences is lacking. Drawing upon an ethnographic case study conducted between 2015 and 2018, we ask: does youth participation increase the democratic legitimacy of a UNFCCC-orchestrated global climate change regime? Applying the concepts of ‘input’ and ‘throughput’ legitimacy, we find that the UNFCCC offers an accessible entry-point for young newcomers into climate governance, but this does not necessarily lead to engagement in orchestrated initiatives. A potential exception to this is Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) which we identify as an overlooked example of UNFCCC orchestration. We thus propose a conceptual distinction between ‘exclusive’ and ‘inclusive’ orchestration, the former merely connecting likeminded intermediaries while the latter broadens inclusion and actively redresses power imbalances, urging more proactive pursuit of democratic legitimacy, including youth engagement from the UNFCCC Secretariat and COP Presidencies.

The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: Latinext ed. by Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares and Willie Perdomo

Reviewed by: The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: Latinext ed. by Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares and Willie Perdomo Ignacio Carvajal THE BREAKBEAT POETS VOL. 4: LATINEXT. By Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares, and Willie Perdomo, eds. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2020. The stated purpose of the fourth volume of The BreakBeat Poets series collection, LatiNext, edited by Felicia Rose Chavez, José Olivares, and Willie Perdomo, is to bring “the aesthetic of hip-hop practice to the page.” It is the latest from Haymarket in a series that has published several collections based around sets of marginalized identities. The editors highlight poetics that have been excluded to center the works as serious subjects of study and literary merit. During a moment in which the analytical use of the term “latinidad” in the United States trembles (se tambalea, por de alguna manera decirlo), revealing both the possibilities and fissures in better understanding or wielding concepts like identity or relation, the voices in LatiNext complicate, rather than attempt to foreclose, those discussions. As a whole, the book celebrates what Perdomo in the introduction calls a “somos más” moment. This proclamation seems to be simultaneously referring to the diversity of communities to which the label of Latinx/a/o may or may not apply, but also to a growing number of artists making noise in increasingly visible stages. There are 125 poets in this anthology. They hail from Houston, New York, Chicago, many places in California, the DMV — but also Cuba, New Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic. They are Nuyoricans, Afro-Latinx, Ch/Xicanx/o/as, Central American, Queer, Black, poet laureates, established voices, and young new-comers. In Mariana Goycoechea’s “PoEma for MaMi,” to highlight just one, the speaker mourns a mother who struggled with writing: “Mujer,/... I don’t know what I’ll/write from here on/other than to remember to write the entire alphabet/every time I write your name” (43). Gabriel Ramirez’s “Afro-Latinx Manifesto (or I learned to Count Salsa Steps to Laffy Taffy by D4L)” proclaims that “I let go of my father’s abandonment to carry a name I knew better than any,” that of the mother whose belly was kissed by Celia Cruz (73–74). Too many to name here, the collection includes explicit odes to the peacock, to the chola, to Kendrick Lamar, to dipset, to new money, to Tego Calderón — along with many others to place, memory, and future. “These poems, though, they wanna be about something beautiful like birds ‘n’ shit,” writes Joseph Rios in “Fellowship Application." The poem continues (57–58): This poetry is for the birds......Birds that getcancer. Birds that get valley fever. Birds that die ofdiabetes. Birds that watch professional wrestling andown cats with feline leukemia. I hate that my poetry hasto be about this shit, but it’s true.... [End Page 31] The poems in the collection constitute remembrances, eulogies, portraits, and celebrations. Ashley August’s “Luanne” celebrates a young woman at school, much less concerned with what others may think or say and more with living in her joy. She (23–24): Run when it scares herStay when it feel goodSay nothing when she ain’t got nothing to sayDon’t fake the funkShe don’t be polite for nobody’s feelingsTell you she want it, tell you to take it backTell you you stupid when you is stupid The speaker in Victoria Chávez Peralta’s “Dios te Salve, María” insists that “la virgen de guadalupe loves me, even though i’m queer.” Susi García’s “The Bridge is out” defiantly declares that “The bridge is out/but it won’t stop us, amigax –/ we under water walk” (131). Jonathan Mendoza’s “On nationalism” critically states: “I do not need to wave an empire’s flag/to prove I am deserving of a life” (183). Cierto es, como el poema de Raquel Salas Rivera “preguntas frecuentes” nos dice, que (246): en inglés el plural singular ya exitseel yo muchamenteen español tenemos que inventar el pluralellx elleun singular bastardo una caja de galletas/duct tape...

Membership negotiation in the first workplace – Newcomers' experiences

PurposeThis qualitative study aims to understand young professional newcomers' experiences of communication processes in membership negotiation in their first workplace after graduation.Design/methodology/approachInstead of a one-time interview, the participants were contacted five to ten times during the three to ten months, beginning when they entered the workplace. The data were analyzed using a constant comparative method.FindingsThree communication processes during membership negotiation were identified: developing reciprocity, seeking and perceiving acceptance and becoming an active member. To experience membership, newcomers need to achieve acceptance and engage in reciprocal communication in early interaction situations with managers and coworkers.Research limitations/implicationsOnly the experiences of newly graduated newcomers were studied. This study illustrates the communication processes and social interaction evolving in membership negotiation during newcomers' entry.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to re-evaluate their short orientation programs to support membership negotiations in workplace communication.Social implicationsBy recognizing the communication processes during membership negotiation, the practices of newcomers' entry can be developed to support the membership development.Originality/valueThis study contributes to membership negotiation by showing how newcomers join the flow of membership negotiation through the processes of developing reciprocity, seeking and perceiving acceptance and becoming an active member.

Preface

Following a successful relocation to Gasthof Hotel Lamm in 2017, the international symposium “Symmetries in Science XVIII” (a series initiated by Bruno Gruber in 1979) again took place in this very hospitable environment from August 4-9, 2019 in Bregenz, Austria. Thirty-seven scientists from 13 countries, more than half from outside the European Union but all over the world, reflected the truely international scope of this conference.Again, the mixture of well-established experts and young newcomers provided a very stimulating atmosphere for lively, constructive discussions, not only in the lecture room but also outside, often till late at night (or even early morning).As in the past, the topics covered a very broad range – from very small (elementary particles) to extremely large (cosmological problems).

Patterns of social exclusion in mixed neighborhoods:

For a newcomer in a city, the process of getting familiar with urban places does not only refer to memorize the roads but to learn how to live as a local. In this article, I argue that the changing urban structure and discourse of locals may form subtle ways of social exclusion and discrimination which may have an impact on social positionality of the newcomers in a mixed neighborhood. This study reflects on high skilled young newcomers from Turkey to Berlin with the aim of understanding transnational disparities and exclusion on the one hand, social contact and inclusion on the other. I propose to look into both ways because there is not only exclusion in a mixed neighborhood; there is also acceptance and coexistence. By focusing on Kreuzberg and Neukölln in Berlin, I search for dynamics of neighborhood use of migrant youth, (in)visibility, ‘public familiarity’ (Blokland, 2003) and daily interaction to show the connections among urban structure, practice and discourse. The sample of this qualitative research is high skilled young professionals from Turkey with high education degrees, who came to Berlin over the last five years. The data comes from thirty in-depth interviews conducted by me in the period of October 2018 to March 2019 for a different topic but a related research.

Psychosocial interventions in schools with newcomers: A structured conceptualization of system, design, and individual needs

Canada has recently welcomed an influx of refugees, many of whom experienced significant trauma and adversity before coming to Canada or during migration. Thousands of newcomer children and youth are now in Canadian schools, and many continue to struggle with symptoms of distress and trauma. During the spring of 2018, a pilot was conducted in two large Ontario school districts to evaluate the feasibility of a new 10-week manualized intervention (Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups [STRONG]) developed to promote resilience and reduce distress among young newcomers. In the current study, stakeholders involved in the pilot (i.e., mental health clinicians, mental health leaders, developers of the STRONG program, and the evaluation team) participated in an online Group Concept Mapping (GCM) activity to document the groups' collective wisdom about developing and implementing appropriate programming for newcomer children and youth. Twenty-three stakeholders generated a list of considerations related to designing, implementing, and facilitating programs to promote resilience among newcomer children and youth, producing a total of 71 statements. Eighteen stakeholders then sorted the list of statements into meaningful categories. Through multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis we identified five clusters of important considerations: (1) engage family and community; (2) take a whole school approach; (3) attend to group composition and setting; (4) make material accessible and age-appropriate; and, (5) address unique clinical issues. Theoretically, these clusters highlight the importance of considering individual needs, system considerations, and design considerations. Attention to these concepts will specifically help inform future iterations of the STRONG intervention. More broadly, these results identify important factors to consider for addressing the needs of newcomer children and youth in school settings.