ERIC Number: EJ1119510
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Dec
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1245
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
My American Dream: The Interplay Between Structure and Agency in West African Immigrants' Educational Experiences in the United States
Knight, Michelle G.; Roegman, Rachel; Edstrom, Lisa
Education and Urban Society, v48 n9 p827-851 Dec 2016
This article presents findings of a qualitative, interpretive case study of the experiences of 1.5- and 2nd-generation West African immigrants who self-identify as pursuing the American Dream, defined by them as academic attainment and career success. Employing structuration theory, the authors examine the interplay between structures and agency in participants' educational and professional decision making. Participants' perspectives on the American Dream are filled with references to dominant narratives of hard work, economic success, and the power of formal education. At the same time, findings illuminate a conceptual shift in understanding the nature of hard work and personal freedom experienced in pursuit of the American Dream as participants recognized that as African immigrants, they had to work harder to achieve the Dream while highlighting the role and influence of family expectations and schooling structures. Their expanded notions of the Dream include understandings of individual agency, social supports and constraints, and cultural forces.
Descriptors: Immigrants, Educational Experience, Qualitative Research, Case Studies, Decision Making, Individual Power, Social Structure, Semi Structured Interviews, Economic Status, Freedom, Barriers, Family Influence, Academic Aspiration, Occupational Aspiration, Higher Education, Social Mobility, Majors (Students), Course Selection (Students)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York (New York)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A