Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Neoliberalism, Race And Empowerment: A Study Of Microenterprise Programs In Toronto And Los Angeles, Julie N. Young

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation focuses on microenterprise in Toronto and Los Angeles. Two related research objectives are pursued in this dissertation. The first and overarching question concerns empowerment. 1) To what extent do microfinance and microenterprise programs empower their clients? The second broad theme concerns neoliberalism. How is the experience of empowerment shaped by neoliberalism? To gain further insight, I consider the following questions. 2) What are the objectives, intended outcomes and structures of microenterprise programs? 3) Who are the key actors in the space and are there any patterns in relation to race, gender and class? 4) What role does structural …

The Use Of Social And Cultural Capital As Refugee Mothers Transition Their Children To Ontario Education, Courtney A. Brewer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study focused on Syrian refugee mothers’ experiences in transitioning their children to new school systems in Ontario, Canada. In 2015, the Canadian government committed to resettling 25000 Syrian refugees and processing higher numbers of refugee claims in the years following. Despite the increased number of refugees in Canada, there has been limited attention to perspectives of mothers in relation to transitioning children to the Canadian education system (Brewer, 2016). As well, the intersection at which all aspects of this study are situated in—refugees, motherhood, school transitions, and social and cultural capital—lacked scholarly attention. Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1990) theory of …

School–Work Transitions Among Second-Generation Immigrants, Awish Aslam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Canadian data show that second-generation immigrants generally achieve higher levels of educational attainment when compared to the children of Canadian-born parents; however, those who are racialized experience poorer labour market outcomes, such as higher rates of underemployment, lower rates of pay, and less access to jobs with opportunities for advancement. This study uses in-depth interviews to explore the experiences of both racialized and non-racialized second-generation immigrants in their school–work transitions. It focuses on examining the roles of human and social capital, and the differences that racialized and non-racialized groups experience when navigating this transition. Findings highlight the value …

Navigating The Social Landscape: An Exploration Of Social Networking Site Usage Among Emerging Adults, Kristen Colbeck

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explores how emerging adults (Arnett, 2000) in their first- and second-year of undergraduate study make use of social networking sites (SNSs) for their day-to-day sociality. This study compares emerging adults’ use of Facebook, which is the most popular and widely used SNS among this particular demographic, to increasingly popular SNSs Twitter and Instagram. This project seeks to discover how the use of different SNSs supplements, changes, or replaces the use of Facebook, considering social capital exists on each platform, and if and how each sites’ uses and gratifications differ. This study employs face-to-face semi-structured interviews to pursue the …

Social And Human Capital: The Determinants Of Economic Integration Of South Asian Immigrants In Canada, Muhammed M. Raza

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

ABSTARCT

The labor market outcomes of immigrants have been a primary focus of the research to comprehend the integration of immigrants inCanada. The focus of the research is largely on human capital approaches for the investigation of the earnings of immigrants. This thesis takes a distinct approach in three ways: first, unlike traditional research that compares the earnings of immigrants with native born of the same ethnic/racial groups or with white native born population, the dissertation compares the earnings of visible minority immigrants with non-visible minority immigrants. Comparing across foreign born populations is important to neutralize the impact of exposure …

The Cross-Border Migrant Experience In Lang Son Province, Northern Viet Nam, Donald Hickerson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The crossing of national borders between nations of the developing world provides opportunities for the poor who seek sources of livelihood, while putting migrants, especially women migrants, at risk of exploitation and abuse. It is against the backdrop of these contradictory effects of migration for poor women that this thesis examines the experiences of a group of daily cross-border migrant women in northern Viet Nam. The study focuses on the role of networks in their lives. Based on 22 in-depth interviews with Vietnamese women migrants who work at the Viet Nam-China border region, I develop an analytical framework that seeks …

Poverty, Work And Social Networks: The Role Of Social Capital For Aboriginal People In Urban Australian Locales, Julie Lahn

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

In this article, I present the key findings from a project entitled “The Social Context of Indigenous Poverty”. The research involved a series of interviews with Aboriginal people in urban SE Australia on issues of poverty, social capital and social exclusion. In the article I draw together Aboriginal perspectives on the meaning of poverty to reflect on the relevance of social capital concepts for understanding Aboriginal economic disadvantage and hence, the merits of policy framed in these terms.