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Multiculturalism and Social Work | San Francisco State University

The story behind a tree: Career successes of immigrant women

Author: Rakhsha, Gita
Author Background: U Utah, US
Date 4/2000
Type Dissertation
Journal Title: Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering
Volume/Pages Vol 60(9-B): 4946
Publisher
Subject Matter Research, Women, Career Development; Immigration; Occupational Success
Population
Pedagogies
Abstract The present study is a qualitative exploration of career development of 12 professionally established and successful immigrant women. The participants' chosen fields included medicine; psychology; health administration; computer software engineering; social work; and academic posts in sociology, medical technology, economics, and Near Eastern studies. All of the participants were in possession of advanced graduate degrees including Doctorate of Philosophy, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration, and Doctor of Medicine. The women's ages ranged from 30 to 54. Their nationalities included Iranian, Iranian Armenian, Indian, Turkish, Israeli, and Filipino. The age at which the women immigrated to the United States (United States) ranged from 14 to 28, and their length of stay in the United States varied between 11 and 40 years. Individual in-depth interviews and a focus group were conducted to collect data. Heuristic methodology was used to analyze the data which rendered the theoretical construction of a 'Tree Model' consisting of three overarching categories, each with a number of themes and subthemes. The first category, 'Root of Success,' depicts the factors that undergird the women's achievement motivations. The second, 'Process of Success,' enumerates the facilitative factors in the women's career development. And the final category, 'Being Successful,' reveals the participants' subjective definitions and experiences of success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved)
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