Is immigration a culture? A qualitative approach to exploring immigrant student experiences within the United States.

Abstract

The present study investigated the lived immigration experiences of 10 students enrolled in or graduated from a university (i.e., bachelor's degree) in the United States using a phenomenological approach. Participants represented 9 different countries, cultures of origin or backgrounds, and self-identified as either immigrant or firstgeneration American. The present research contributes to current literature by exploring the experiences of immigrants across ethnicities and cultures of origin. After survey completion and focus group meetings with participants, the following two themes emerged as findings of the present study: (a) immigrant culture, and (b) collectivist culture. The immigrant culture theme indicates that immigrants from different countries and cultures of origin experienced commonalities in their journeys of immigration. Findings also suggest that the immigrant experience and background impacted decision-making processes in college for immigrant and first-generation American students. Implications such as approaching immigration as a culture to improve conceptualization processes of immigrant experiences and educational and counseling services for immigrant students are discussed. Additionally, the application of the ecological systems theory model with immigrant students is discussed for support and as a suggestion for future research to serve as a potential intervention tool. What is the significance of this article for the general public?The present study suggests that conceptualization of immigration as a culture with diverse immigrant ethnicities may provide greater understanding of the immigrant experience to better help this population. Recommendations for higher education faculty, staff, and counselors are provided for work with immigrant students, such as with the ecological systems theory model.

The impact that cultural food security has on identity and well-being in the second-generation U.S. American minority college students

“…Sixteen second-generation American undergraduate ( n =13) or graduate ( n =3) students at the University of Nevada, Reno participated in this study. Initially, participant recruitment was guided by examining similar studies with second-generation college student participants, which have had 5–15 participants (Brady and Stevens 2019 ; Eaton 2006 ; Morales 2012 ; Muñoz 2012 ; Schackmuth 2012 ; Skulley 2004 ). To uphold data saturation principles in qualitative research, the first author concluded the study after 16 interviews as new data did not provide added information (Glaser and Strauss 1967 ).…”

Translating psychological research on immigrants and refugees.

“…In particular, they take up the challenges of adaptation facing unaccompanied immigrant minors (Alvarez, NeMoyer, & Rodriguez, 2019), the experiences of Syrian refugee caregivers and children in perimigration (the period between displacement and resettlement; Watamura, Miles, & Narayan, 2019), and the nature of the association between receiving community context and acculturative stress among Latina young adult immigrants (Verile, Ertl, Dillon, & De La Rosa, 2019). Another article focuses on the experiences and needs of immigrant college students from nine different countries (Brady & Stevens, 2019) and asks a provocative question about whether immigration experience itself can be considered a unique cultural experience. Other articles showcase the utility of community-based research and partnerships to implement an intervention to reduce stress among Latinx immigrants (Vaughn, Jacquez, & Suarez-Cano, 2019), to explore the relationship of Latinx parents’ concerns about their documentation status with involvement in their children’s schools (Cross et al, 2019), and to engage Chinese immigrant breast cancer survivors into a randomized control intervention trial (Wu et al, 2019).…”

Coping and its association with psychological adjustment: Differences between first‐, second‐, and third‐plus generation adolescents

“…Beyond cultural differences and migratory status, first‐ and second‐generation adolescents from different cultures of origin experience similarities in their migration process and their acculturation efforts (Berry, 2005; Brady & Stevens, 2019). Moreover, in Canada and the United States, there is a dominant culture, and adapting to it represents a more or less important stressor for foreign‐born youth or children of immigrants (Roysircar‐Sodowsky & Frey, 2003).…”