This book is something of an adventure to read: while the artists interviewed largely—though not ... more This book is something of an adventure to read: while the artists interviewed largely—though not entirely—remain traditional subjects of the interviews and offer interesting accounts, anecdotes, and views on their artistic activity, the interviews themselves are also objects of examination, both as documentation and as art. Joanna Grabski and Carol Magee's work offers insight into oral history interview reflexivity by detailing the experiences of dispersed artists, museum curators , art historians, and anthropologists, who show how interviews can be used to generate new meaning and the ways in which connecting with artists and their work can transform artistic production into innovative, critical insights and knowledge. African Art, Interviews, Narratives provides scholars the chance to reexamine the role of the interviewer, interlocutor, and art historian when making printed text from recorded interviews. The editors, Magee and Grabski, felt that the time had come for scholars of African art studies to examine how they use various forms of interviews as research tools to present their subjects and generate bodies of knowledge. Their goal for this text is to " reflect on what we do with the interview once we have it—how we put it to work " (1). The book is a product of conversations at a symposium , a conference, and even during a plane trip. It was triggered when panel members at a symposium observed that even though the papers were ostensibly about African artists and art, very little of what the artists actually said or did remained in the academic papers being presented. The photos in the book are captivating, including the one featured on the cover: Abdoulaye Ndoye's Tribute to Moustapha Dime, 2002; they are discussed in the interviews with the respective artists. Also included is an appendix of the various interlocutors—all those who were interviewed or joined in the conversations. It is clear that the editors are seasoned in the practice of interviewing for the construction of knowledge: They discuss their interviewing methodology, and a close reading of the book indicates that the authors provided an in-depth description of interviewing while practicing reflexivity in the production of this knowledge; also, all the authors offer a clear methodology for conducting interviews and describe how their interviewees were selected. Chapters 6 and 11 outline the dialogue between the interviewer and interviewee in a nontraditional
Women comprise a significant portion of the agricultural workforce in developing countries but ar... more Women comprise a significant portion of the agricultural workforce in developing countries but are often less likely to attend government sponsored training events. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of using machine-supported decision-making to increase overall training turnout while enhancing gender inclusivity. Using data obtained from 1,067 agricultural extension training events in Bangladesh (130,690 farmers), models were created to assess gender-based training patterns (e.g., preferences and availability for training). Using these models, simulations were performed to predict the top (most attended) training events for increasing total attendance (male and female combined) and female attendance, based on gender of the trainer, and when and where training took place. By selecting a mixture of the top training events for total attendance and female attendance, simulations indicate that total and female attendance can be concurrently increased. However, str...
International Journal of Adult Education and Technology, 2022
This paper reports on a case study that explores how the integrative model of program planning ca... more This paper reports on a case study that explores how the integrative model of program planning can be applied to better understand the process of mobile learning efforts in diverse African contexts. The authors discuss how Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), a Purdue University-based program, creates educational videos accessible in over 220 languages and disseminates them for use on a diversity of electronic platforms, inclusive of but not limited to cell phones. The authors aim to advance important discussions related to how human resource development research and practice can be responsive to local communities while working to enhance agricultural productivity and gender equity in the Global South.
Despite the benefits of mixed methods research in providing better understanding of complex human... more Despite the benefits of mixed methods research in providing better understanding of complex human phenomena, there has been a low prevalence of mixed methods studies published in Human Resource Development Quarterly (HRDQ) (Onwuegbuzie & Corrigan, 2014). Onwuegbuzie and Corrigan (2014) examined the dominance of a “Qual” or “Quan” approach in studies using mixed methods and whether the article explicitly mentioned “mixed methods”. They found that only 13% of the empirical articles published since the journal’s inception in 2000 have used mixed methods. Most of these used an approach where quantitative methods were dominant, and few authors explicitly mention mixed methods. This low prevalence may be due to a lack of quality in mixed methods research submitted to the journal (Onwuegbuzie & Corrigan, 2014). To this end, they propose guidelines of how to improve quality which includes approximately 60 empirically-supported steps for conducting mixed methods research from identification of research purpose to publication. Onwuegbuzie and Corrigan’s (2014) editorial, while informative, only partially examined how mixed methods approaches have been applied in the field. Features of mixed methods studies such as purpose of mixing, what was mixed, and when mixing occurred were not explored. Such analysis may complement the quality guidelines proposed and be informative to HRD scholars pursuing mixed methods research. Further, their analysis did not consider other factors that affect use of mixed methods in HRD research, such as researchers’ mental models.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, 2020
This article explores factors contributing to a non-dominant collaboration paradigm in a partners... more This article explores factors contributing to a non-dominant collaboration paradigm in a partnership between a government-based international development agency and a university-based non-governmental organization. Anchored in Wood’s and Gray’s collaborative framework, this article describes how the steeply hierarchical partnership navigated the elements of collaboration – organizational autonomy; shared problem domain; interactive processes; shared rules, norms, and structures; and decision making – to produce non-dominant values and practices deriving from negotiated processes, rules, norms, and structures that produced positive collaboration outcomes. In particular, a history of prior mutually beneficial interactions emerges as a critical precondition for achieving a non-dominant collaboration in this case study’s steeply hierarchical organizational relationship, one in which egalitarianism and equal decision-making regarding the agenda and the goals of the collaboration could ha...
Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development
Social networks are taking center stage in organizations for the ways they shape and inform workp... more Social networks are taking center stage in organizations for the ways they shape and inform workplace leadership. Hofstede's cultural dimensions and social capital provide a framework for enabling better cross-cultural discussion about leadership in general and understanding how leaders in globalized workplace settings tap onto existing cultural practices and values vis-à-vis social networks. In China, Kenya, and Lebanon, these cultural practices and values include Guanxi, Ubuntu, and Wasta, respectively. Responding to calls for more studies comparing social network and on cross-cultural leadership, this chapter seeks to examine how Guanxi, Ubuntu, and Wasta shape workplace leadership and culture in the three respective countries. It discusses leadership styles, reviews the way Guanxi, Ubuntu, and Wasta informs workplace leadership respectively and their intersections, generates a conceptual framework, offers recommendations, suggests future research possibilities, and provides ...
Empowering Learners With Mobile Open-Access Learning Initiatives
Worldwide women play an important role in agriculture but they still are marginalized in extensio... more Worldwide women play an important role in agriculture but they still are marginalized in extension education programs. Traditionally, male-dominated extension services may contribute to gender bias in terms of access to information, participation, implementation and innovation. Limitations women face in accessing extension programs are related to social and cultural constructions. Recently, mobile phone technology has facilitated the work of extension agents and has provided participants new resources to improve their yields; nevertheless, farmer productivity in Mozambique varies between genders. This paper illustrates how agricultural messages designed as animations, and delivered via smartphones result in learning for farmers better than traditional extension presentations. This chapter focuses on the creation of educational materials by Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), and then illuminates the gaps and solutions related to gender agricultural learning. Lastly, a cas...
Introduction This paper applies queer theory--particularly disruption in opposition to normativit... more Introduction This paper applies queer theory--particularly disruption in opposition to normativity-to analyze a Kenyan Television Network ducosoap, The Real Househelps of Kawangware (RHOK). Docusoap deploys observational documentary techniques wedded to the serial narratives of soap opera (Hill, 2005). For example, it follows non-professional actors or actresses through narrative material meant to entertain viewers. It depicts individuals in love, agonizing situations, and stereotypical narratives. In the USA examples of the docusoap include The Real Housewives (2006-), Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007-) and Duck Dynasty (2012-). Reflecting vibrant, dynamic, growing multilingual reality of Kenya, RHOK is quintessentially Nairobian, and Kenyan. Strikingly, the RHOK mirrors the grandeur and drama of RHOK and plays into the extreme tropes about what everyday life looks like and is seemingly voyeuristic. For example, "househelp" is a term that fuses a brand of Kenyan jarg...
This study investigated African diaspora parenting in the United States. Three different sources ... more This study investigated African diaspora parenting in the United States. Three different sources of data were analyzed: parents' focus group discussions, interviews from children and parents, and YouTube videos made by African immigrant children living in the United States. This study applied the thematic analysis methodology, and the results validate other studies that found that parenting is influenced by culture. The results also show that African immigrant parents in the United States use abstract yet multifaceted approaches to parenting, while their children acculturate faster but are also aware of their African cultural heritage. Overall, this chapter underscores the importance of triangulation in studying ethnic minority groups, not only in the way that it precludes lumping their stories together, but also how this method reduces bias and increases the relevance of data.
The fact that every human must die makes beliefs and practices around death an important window i... more The fact that every human must die makes beliefs and practices around death an important window into a culture. In Africa, in particular, events related to death are especially important because entire communities are called upon to participate when a community member dies (Jindra & Noret, 2011b ). In this chapter, the authors describe death, grief and culture in Kenya. They begin with discussing a constructionist view bereavement, and then provide an overview of Kenya's colonial history. Also provided is conceptualization of death, bereavement and mourning and a literature review of sub-Saharan African scholars especially Kenyan ones. Next is a thematic analysis of the mourning and grieving process using case studies from Embu, Luhya and Luo communities of Kenya. The study is anchored on the international family strengths model to identify individual, family, community, and societal strengths that were instrumental to the mourning and grieving processes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of changing practices in bereavement and mourning in the Kenyan context a discussion of implications for professionals working internationally.
The kanga, a type of East African textile, is a central part of daily life along the Swahili coa... more The kanga, a type of East African textile, is a central part of daily life along the Swahili coast. Historically, this highly-versatile cloth has been used as a method for communicating taboo messages and constructing identity, while also serving as a record of indigenous knowledge. While innovation in mass-production have made kangas more accessible and affordable for consumers, it is changing women’s roles in the production process, contexts of cultural communication, and the significance of the kanga in East African society. In this paper, we discuss the social life of the kanga through its commodification, role as an alternative archive, and disruption of patriarchal systems. First, we explore the evolving uses of kanga in identity-making, East African tourism, and the international fashion industry. In tracing the history of the kanga, it becomes necessary to discuss the (un)changing iterations of these communicative textiles as a woman-centered repository, through which women construct indigenous knowledge and feminisms. The continued practice of kanga communication provides women with a medium for social interruption and a virtual space to be heard, resist patriarchy, play with each other, and resolve conflict. For East African women seeking restitution and control over their contributions to the manufacturing industry, the kanga stands to be both the site and source of action. Secondly, we illustrate how the kanga became a space of women to voice their ‹unspeakable› messages, therefore disrupting the patriarchal societal norms of privacy and modest behavior. In doing so, kanga wearers are participating in what James Scott refers to as «everyday forms of resistance» in his book Weapons of the Weak. Lastly, using the concept of platform markets, in which a platform supply mediates between a single buyer and producer, we explore the properties of the kanga market in East Africa, focusing on issues around copyright, production and distribution, sale, and use. Manufacturers are increasingly outsourcing labor and using cheaper fabrics to produce these cloths, which made the kanga available to a wider range of customers, at the expense of local manufacturers. As a result of the platform market structure, the composers of kanga texts (mostly women), are unknown and uncompensated for their contributions, even in case of very popular texts.
This article describes how the value of Bulala (togetherness) informs organizational culture for ... more This article describes how the value of Bulala (togetherness) informs organizational culture for employees inside and outside of the workplace in a rural county in Kenya. The article contributes to the literature in reference to how informal and indigenous practices of relationship-building community values like Bulala can activate a potential for 'humanizing' workplace life and organizational culture. Drawing from social capital theory and Ubuntu, we illustrate how employees can shape and experience organizational culture in a bottom-up strategy, in contrast to top-down strategies, through the value of Bulala. The article argues that these activities enhance human relationships and social connections, and affect performance and productivity too. Resembling Ubuntu, Bulala especially affords being called upon by leaders where they attempt to strengthen organizational culture through informal human relationship amongst employees.
This study utilized thematic content analysis and a partial ecological model to analyze qualitati... more This study utilized thematic content analysis and a partial ecological model to analyze qualitative data drawn from focus group discussions with first-generation immigrant parents from Cameroon, Kenya, and Somalia from the Twin City area of Minnesota. (Twin Cities: the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis are adjacent to each other, with Saint Paul located on the west bank and Minneapolis on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the state of Minnesota.) Results indicate that macro-time or chronosystem levels in the event of immigration had the most influence on parental perceptions. Hence, contextual changes that made “parenting” challenging were attributed to immigration. Variations were partly due to the reasons for migrating. Cameroonians and Kenyans migrated mainly for economic reasons and held perspectives that emphasized how the contextual change had influenced their parental roles. Cameroonians pointed to the impact of the exosystem on the perceived role of the child welfare system in the context of “parenting in fear.” Kenyans emphasized micro-time, meso-time, and macrosystem factors as influencing interactions with their children and hoped to benefit from what they perceived as the best of both worlds. Somalis identified both challenges and benefits from public assistance received due to their refugee status.
This book is something of an adventure to read: while the artists interviewed largely—though not ... more This book is something of an adventure to read: while the artists interviewed largely—though not entirely—remain traditional subjects of the interviews and offer interesting accounts, anecdotes, and views on their artistic activity, the interviews themselves are also objects of examination, both as documentation and as art. Joanna Grabski and Carol Magee's work offers insight into oral history interview reflexivity by detailing the experiences of dispersed artists, museum curators , art historians, and anthropologists, who show how interviews can be used to generate new meaning and the ways in which connecting with artists and their work can transform artistic production into innovative, critical insights and knowledge. African Art, Interviews, Narratives provides scholars the chance to reexamine the role of the interviewer, interlocutor, and art historian when making printed text from recorded interviews. The editors, Magee and Grabski, felt that the time had come for scholars of African art studies to examine how they use various forms of interviews as research tools to present their subjects and generate bodies of knowledge. Their goal for this text is to " reflect on what we do with the interview once we have it—how we put it to work " (1). The book is a product of conversations at a symposium , a conference, and even during a plane trip. It was triggered when panel members at a symposium observed that even though the papers were ostensibly about African artists and art, very little of what the artists actually said or did remained in the academic papers being presented. The photos in the book are captivating, including the one featured on the cover: Abdoulaye Ndoye's Tribute to Moustapha Dime, 2002; they are discussed in the interviews with the respective artists. Also included is an appendix of the various interlocutors—all those who were interviewed or joined in the conversations. It is clear that the editors are seasoned in the practice of interviewing for the construction of knowledge: They discuss their interviewing methodology, and a close reading of the book indicates that the authors provided an in-depth description of interviewing while practicing reflexivity in the production of this knowledge; also, all the authors offer a clear methodology for conducting interviews and describe how their interviewees were selected. Chapters 6 and 11 outline the dialogue between the interviewer and interviewee in a nontraditional
Women comprise a significant portion of the agricultural workforce in developing countries but ar... more Women comprise a significant portion of the agricultural workforce in developing countries but are often less likely to attend government sponsored training events. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of using machine-supported decision-making to increase overall training turnout while enhancing gender inclusivity. Using data obtained from 1,067 agricultural extension training events in Bangladesh (130,690 farmers), models were created to assess gender-based training patterns (e.g., preferences and availability for training). Using these models, simulations were performed to predict the top (most attended) training events for increasing total attendance (male and female combined) and female attendance, based on gender of the trainer, and when and where training took place. By selecting a mixture of the top training events for total attendance and female attendance, simulations indicate that total and female attendance can be concurrently increased. However, str...
International Journal of Adult Education and Technology, 2022
This paper reports on a case study that explores how the integrative model of program planning ca... more This paper reports on a case study that explores how the integrative model of program planning can be applied to better understand the process of mobile learning efforts in diverse African contexts. The authors discuss how Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), a Purdue University-based program, creates educational videos accessible in over 220 languages and disseminates them for use on a diversity of electronic platforms, inclusive of but not limited to cell phones. The authors aim to advance important discussions related to how human resource development research and practice can be responsive to local communities while working to enhance agricultural productivity and gender equity in the Global South.
Despite the benefits of mixed methods research in providing better understanding of complex human... more Despite the benefits of mixed methods research in providing better understanding of complex human phenomena, there has been a low prevalence of mixed methods studies published in Human Resource Development Quarterly (HRDQ) (Onwuegbuzie & Corrigan, 2014). Onwuegbuzie and Corrigan (2014) examined the dominance of a “Qual” or “Quan” approach in studies using mixed methods and whether the article explicitly mentioned “mixed methods”. They found that only 13% of the empirical articles published since the journal’s inception in 2000 have used mixed methods. Most of these used an approach where quantitative methods were dominant, and few authors explicitly mention mixed methods. This low prevalence may be due to a lack of quality in mixed methods research submitted to the journal (Onwuegbuzie & Corrigan, 2014). To this end, they propose guidelines of how to improve quality which includes approximately 60 empirically-supported steps for conducting mixed methods research from identification of research purpose to publication. Onwuegbuzie and Corrigan’s (2014) editorial, while informative, only partially examined how mixed methods approaches have been applied in the field. Features of mixed methods studies such as purpose of mixing, what was mixed, and when mixing occurred were not explored. Such analysis may complement the quality guidelines proposed and be informative to HRD scholars pursuing mixed methods research. Further, their analysis did not consider other factors that affect use of mixed methods in HRD research, such as researchers’ mental models.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies, 2020
This article explores factors contributing to a non-dominant collaboration paradigm in a partners... more This article explores factors contributing to a non-dominant collaboration paradigm in a partnership between a government-based international development agency and a university-based non-governmental organization. Anchored in Wood’s and Gray’s collaborative framework, this article describes how the steeply hierarchical partnership navigated the elements of collaboration – organizational autonomy; shared problem domain; interactive processes; shared rules, norms, and structures; and decision making – to produce non-dominant values and practices deriving from negotiated processes, rules, norms, and structures that produced positive collaboration outcomes. In particular, a history of prior mutually beneficial interactions emerges as a critical precondition for achieving a non-dominant collaboration in this case study’s steeply hierarchical organizational relationship, one in which egalitarianism and equal decision-making regarding the agenda and the goals of the collaboration could ha...
Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development
Social networks are taking center stage in organizations for the ways they shape and inform workp... more Social networks are taking center stage in organizations for the ways they shape and inform workplace leadership. Hofstede's cultural dimensions and social capital provide a framework for enabling better cross-cultural discussion about leadership in general and understanding how leaders in globalized workplace settings tap onto existing cultural practices and values vis-à-vis social networks. In China, Kenya, and Lebanon, these cultural practices and values include Guanxi, Ubuntu, and Wasta, respectively. Responding to calls for more studies comparing social network and on cross-cultural leadership, this chapter seeks to examine how Guanxi, Ubuntu, and Wasta shape workplace leadership and culture in the three respective countries. It discusses leadership styles, reviews the way Guanxi, Ubuntu, and Wasta informs workplace leadership respectively and their intersections, generates a conceptual framework, offers recommendations, suggests future research possibilities, and provides ...
Empowering Learners With Mobile Open-Access Learning Initiatives
Worldwide women play an important role in agriculture but they still are marginalized in extensio... more Worldwide women play an important role in agriculture but they still are marginalized in extension education programs. Traditionally, male-dominated extension services may contribute to gender bias in terms of access to information, participation, implementation and innovation. Limitations women face in accessing extension programs are related to social and cultural constructions. Recently, mobile phone technology has facilitated the work of extension agents and has provided participants new resources to improve their yields; nevertheless, farmer productivity in Mozambique varies between genders. This paper illustrates how agricultural messages designed as animations, and delivered via smartphones result in learning for farmers better than traditional extension presentations. This chapter focuses on the creation of educational materials by Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), and then illuminates the gaps and solutions related to gender agricultural learning. Lastly, a cas...
Introduction This paper applies queer theory--particularly disruption in opposition to normativit... more Introduction This paper applies queer theory--particularly disruption in opposition to normativity-to analyze a Kenyan Television Network ducosoap, The Real Househelps of Kawangware (RHOK). Docusoap deploys observational documentary techniques wedded to the serial narratives of soap opera (Hill, 2005). For example, it follows non-professional actors or actresses through narrative material meant to entertain viewers. It depicts individuals in love, agonizing situations, and stereotypical narratives. In the USA examples of the docusoap include The Real Housewives (2006-), Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007-) and Duck Dynasty (2012-). Reflecting vibrant, dynamic, growing multilingual reality of Kenya, RHOK is quintessentially Nairobian, and Kenyan. Strikingly, the RHOK mirrors the grandeur and drama of RHOK and plays into the extreme tropes about what everyday life looks like and is seemingly voyeuristic. For example, "househelp" is a term that fuses a brand of Kenyan jarg...
This study investigated African diaspora parenting in the United States. Three different sources ... more This study investigated African diaspora parenting in the United States. Three different sources of data were analyzed: parents' focus group discussions, interviews from children and parents, and YouTube videos made by African immigrant children living in the United States. This study applied the thematic analysis methodology, and the results validate other studies that found that parenting is influenced by culture. The results also show that African immigrant parents in the United States use abstract yet multifaceted approaches to parenting, while their children acculturate faster but are also aware of their African cultural heritage. Overall, this chapter underscores the importance of triangulation in studying ethnic minority groups, not only in the way that it precludes lumping their stories together, but also how this method reduces bias and increases the relevance of data.
The fact that every human must die makes beliefs and practices around death an important window i... more The fact that every human must die makes beliefs and practices around death an important window into a culture. In Africa, in particular, events related to death are especially important because entire communities are called upon to participate when a community member dies (Jindra & Noret, 2011b ). In this chapter, the authors describe death, grief and culture in Kenya. They begin with discussing a constructionist view bereavement, and then provide an overview of Kenya's colonial history. Also provided is conceptualization of death, bereavement and mourning and a literature review of sub-Saharan African scholars especially Kenyan ones. Next is a thematic analysis of the mourning and grieving process using case studies from Embu, Luhya and Luo communities of Kenya. The study is anchored on the international family strengths model to identify individual, family, community, and societal strengths that were instrumental to the mourning and grieving processes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of changing practices in bereavement and mourning in the Kenyan context a discussion of implications for professionals working internationally.
The kanga, a type of East African textile, is a central part of daily life along the Swahili coa... more The kanga, a type of East African textile, is a central part of daily life along the Swahili coast. Historically, this highly-versatile cloth has been used as a method for communicating taboo messages and constructing identity, while also serving as a record of indigenous knowledge. While innovation in mass-production have made kangas more accessible and affordable for consumers, it is changing women’s roles in the production process, contexts of cultural communication, and the significance of the kanga in East African society. In this paper, we discuss the social life of the kanga through its commodification, role as an alternative archive, and disruption of patriarchal systems. First, we explore the evolving uses of kanga in identity-making, East African tourism, and the international fashion industry. In tracing the history of the kanga, it becomes necessary to discuss the (un)changing iterations of these communicative textiles as a woman-centered repository, through which women construct indigenous knowledge and feminisms. The continued practice of kanga communication provides women with a medium for social interruption and a virtual space to be heard, resist patriarchy, play with each other, and resolve conflict. For East African women seeking restitution and control over their contributions to the manufacturing industry, the kanga stands to be both the site and source of action. Secondly, we illustrate how the kanga became a space of women to voice their ‹unspeakable› messages, therefore disrupting the patriarchal societal norms of privacy and modest behavior. In doing so, kanga wearers are participating in what James Scott refers to as «everyday forms of resistance» in his book Weapons of the Weak. Lastly, using the concept of platform markets, in which a platform supply mediates between a single buyer and producer, we explore the properties of the kanga market in East Africa, focusing on issues around copyright, production and distribution, sale, and use. Manufacturers are increasingly outsourcing labor and using cheaper fabrics to produce these cloths, which made the kanga available to a wider range of customers, at the expense of local manufacturers. As a result of the platform market structure, the composers of kanga texts (mostly women), are unknown and uncompensated for their contributions, even in case of very popular texts.
This article describes how the value of Bulala (togetherness) informs organizational culture for ... more This article describes how the value of Bulala (togetherness) informs organizational culture for employees inside and outside of the workplace in a rural county in Kenya. The article contributes to the literature in reference to how informal and indigenous practices of relationship-building community values like Bulala can activate a potential for 'humanizing' workplace life and organizational culture. Drawing from social capital theory and Ubuntu, we illustrate how employees can shape and experience organizational culture in a bottom-up strategy, in contrast to top-down strategies, through the value of Bulala. The article argues that these activities enhance human relationships and social connections, and affect performance and productivity too. Resembling Ubuntu, Bulala especially affords being called upon by leaders where they attempt to strengthen organizational culture through informal human relationship amongst employees.
This study utilized thematic content analysis and a partial ecological model to analyze qualitati... more This study utilized thematic content analysis and a partial ecological model to analyze qualitative data drawn from focus group discussions with first-generation immigrant parents from Cameroon, Kenya, and Somalia from the Twin City area of Minnesota. (Twin Cities: the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis are adjacent to each other, with Saint Paul located on the west bank and Minneapolis on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the state of Minnesota.) Results indicate that macro-time or chronosystem levels in the event of immigration had the most influence on parental perceptions. Hence, contextual changes that made “parenting” challenging were attributed to immigration. Variations were partly due to the reasons for migrating. Cameroonians and Kenyans migrated mainly for economic reasons and held perspectives that emphasized how the contextual change had influenced their parental roles. Cameroonians pointed to the impact of the exosystem on the perceived role of the child welfare system in the context of “parenting in fear.” Kenyans emphasized micro-time, meso-time, and macrosystem factors as influencing interactions with their children and hoped to benefit from what they perceived as the best of both worlds. Somalis identified both challenges and benefits from public assistance received due to their refugee status.
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