UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Living in the Grey: Racial Sense-Making of Second Generation African Immigrants(2018) Belay, Kurubel; Griffin, Kimberly; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study explored messages of racial identity received by second generation African immigrants in order to better under their racial sense-making experiences. As a result of the growth in the Black immigrant population in the United States, which has grown to nearly 10% of the overall Black population (Pew Research Center, 2017), research has shown that Black immigrants experience and understand their racial identities differently than their African American counterparts (Jackson, 2010; Mwangi & Fries-Britt, 2015). Despite the scholarly attention given to Black immigrants, very little research exists on their second generation immigrant children, and how they make sense of their racial and ethnic identities in a U.S context. Given the impact of racial identity on academic experiences, social engagement, and psychological well-being (Chavous & Byrd, 2009; Cokley & Chapman, 2008; Harper, 2009), the continued growth and representation of this population in higher education warrants further inquiry. Guided by a reconceptualized model of the Learning Race in a U.S. context framework (Fries-Britt, Mwangi, Peralta, 2014), this research was guided by two research questions: (1) What messages do second generation African immigrants receive about their racial identities? (2) How do these messages inform their understandings of their own race and race generally? Employing a narrative inquiry methodology, this study examined how three, second generation African immigrants have made sense of their racial identities. Three salient themes emerged from the participant narratives that demonstrated how each of their understandings of race and racial identity were defined by environments bound by space and time. The findings of this study have implications for research and student affairs practice by providing a nuanced exploration of the racial identity constructions of this segment of the ever growing Black immigrant population.Item A family affair: African immigrant families conceptualizing and navigating college choice(2014) George Mwangi, Chrystal Annunciata; Fries-Britt, Sharon L.; Cabrera, Alberto F.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to understand the postsecondary aspirations, expectations, and access strategies of sub-Saharan African immigrant families in the United States. This study generates knowledge around how 1.5- and second-generation African immigrant college going students and their first-generation immigrant parents conceptualize and navigate the college choice process. The primary framework utilized for this study was Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) combined model of college choice, with funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff & Gonzalez, 2005) and ecocultural theory (Weisner, 1997) serving as supplemental frameworks. Following an ethnographic multiple case design, four families (cases) from Nigeria and Kenya were recruited to participate. Data from demographic questionnaires, in-depth interviews, participant observations and participatory diagramming were used to identify how families conceptualize and navigate college choice. While Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) model was useful, findings reveal a much more rich and complex college choice process that reflects the development of a college-going culture. Therefore, this study presents a new frame for understanding the college choice process of the cases by using baobab trees as a metaphor to illustrate how the families in this study engaged in college choice as Baobab Families. Baobab Families engaged in college choice as a family process, which emphasizes the development of a college-going culture within the home and community. Although Baobab Families experienced challenges in navigating the U.S. educational system and the college choice process, they used a number of proactive strategies as well as familial and culturally based resources to socialize children into a college-going culture as well as to navigate the college choice process. These included college-going legacies, active home-based parental involvement, high academic expectations and pressure, the use of cultural and familial identity, and extended family/community networks. This study can contribute to emerging scholarship on African immigrants in higher education and push education research, practice and policy to keep pace with today's changing student demographics.Item "I'm not enough of anything!": The racial and ethnic identity constructions and negotiations of one-point-five and second generation Nigerians(2009) Awokoya, Janet Tolulope; Wiseman, Donna L; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)For many African youth, questions of identity are pressing concerns. Many who were born in, but raised outside of their country of origin, known as one-point-five immigrants, and their second generation counterparts (Rong & Brown, 2002), often find themselves at the center of several conflicting cultures. These youth are often challenged in their ability to negotiate and reconcile the varying expectations of their respective racial and ethnic groups. While living in multiple, cultural worlds is the experiences of many minority youth (Phelan et al., 1991), it is uniquely challenging for Black immigrant youth as both their blackness and immigrant background make negotiating their racial and ethnic identities more challenging, than non-black and non-immigrant minority youth. Using qualitative methodology (questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and focus group), this dissertation explored the manner in which eleven, one-point-five and second generation Nigerian college students construct and negotiate their racial and ethnic identities. The research was guided by four broad research questions: (1) How do one-point-five and second generation Nigerian college students describe and experience their interactions with Africans and non-Africans (peers, family, and school personnel)? (2) How do they describe and experience their processes of racial and ethnic identity development? (3) How do their interactions with Africans and non-Africans shape their racial and ethnic identity development? (4) How do they negotiate their racial and ethnic identities among Africans and non-Africans? The results revealed three major findings that characterized the identity experiences of one-point-five and second generation Nigerian immigrants. First, participants often constructed and negotiated their racial and ethnic identities differently within their families, peer groups and the schooling context. Second, participants had to "learn" the meaning of blackness in the U.S. context, which significantly impacted how they experienced their racial identities. Lastly, participants often felt challenged about the authenticity of their Nigerian identity, by both Africans and non-Africans alike. This study provides a significantly more nuanced discussion on the identity constructions and negotiations of one of the fastest growing segments of the diverse black population--African immigrant youth.