ArticlePublisher preview available

International Counselor Educators’ Lived Experience Navigating Through the Job Search and Immigration Process

Authors:
Terence Yee
Terence Yee
Terence Yee
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Yi-Yun Tsai at William & Mary
Yi-Yun Tsai
Chesy Tronchoni Bello
Chesy Tronchoni Bello
Chesy Tronchoni Bello
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Krista Malott at Villanova University
Krista Malott
Read publisher preview
Download citation
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

For international faculty in the USA, the transition from international student to international faculty is one of the primary stressors. Although there have been an increasing number of international counselor educators (ICE), little is known about their experiences navigating through the job search and immigration processes. Understanding this topic could help with the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty who identify as ICE. Utilizing a decolonizing and indigenous research paradigm, 15 counselor educators shared their lived experiences of navigating through the job search and immigration processes. Data analysis revealed two broad themes: obstacle course and international identity. Implications of the results are discussed.
A preview of this full-text is provided by Springer Nature.
Learn more
Content available from International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
Vol:.(1234567890)
International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling (2023) 45:728–744
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-023-09521-4
1 3
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
International Counselor Educators’ Lived Experience
Navigating Through theJob Search andImmigration
Process
TerenceYee1· Yi‑YunTsai2· ChesyTronchoniBello3· KristaMalott1
Accepted: 13 June 2023 / Published online: 10 July 2023
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
2023
Abstract
For international faculty in the USA, the transition from international student to
international faculty is one of the primary stressors. Although there have been an
increasing number of international counselor educators (ICE), little is known about
their experiences navigating through the job search and immigration processes.
Understanding this topic could help with the recruitment and retention of diverse
faculty who identify as ICE. Utilizing a decolonizing and indigenous research para-
digm, 15 counselor educators shared their lived experiences of navigating through
the job search and immigration processes. Data analysis revealed two broad themes:
obstacle course and international identity. Implications of the results are discussed.
Keywords International counselor educators· Job search· Immigration· Lived
experience· Decolonized and indigenous research
The retention of faculty, particularly BIPOC faculty, has been a consistent issue
in US higher education (Minor etal., 2017; Sivells, 2021). Some factors related to
BIPOC faculty leaving universities include feelings of isolation, marginalization,
tokenism, and lack of mentorship (Loveless-Morris & Reid, 2018). Due to the sig-
nificant percentage of international faculty in the USA who identify as faculty of
color (e.g., 53.8%; Omiteru etal., 2018), it is important to understand the experi-
ences of this population with the hope of improving hiring and retention strategies.
* Terence Yee
Terence.yee@villanova.edu
1 Department ofEducation andCounseling, Villanova University, St Augustine Center Liberal
Arts Rm 363, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA19085, USA
2 Taoyuan American School, TaoyuanCity, Taiwan
3 La Puerta Abierta, Philadelphia, USA
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Methodology, Reflexivity and Decolonizing Refugee Research: Reflections from the Field
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2018
During the summer of 2017, I was conducting fieldwork for my doctoral dissertation in Egypt. I interviewed thirty-five Syrian refugee women who, after escaping the conflict in Syria, settled in Egypt and then married Egyptian men. Initially my aim was to compare Syrian refugee women’s narratives with the pervasive, and often unquestioned discourses in social media and humanitarian blogs which “explained away” these women’s marriages to Egyptian nationals as coercion, exploitation, and at times forced marriage. It took a while, but I soon came to realize that the stories and reasons of the “Syrian refugee brides” were much more complex that either discourses allowed.
View
Foreign-born Counselor Educators: Strengths, Challenges, and Areas of Support
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2021
  • Int J Adv Counsell
This article features strengths and challenges indicated by foreign-born counselor educators in programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. To gain a deeper understanding of this topic, we utilized a convergent parallel mixed methods design with merged quantitative and qualitative findings. Quantitative results indicated that foreign-born faculty (FBF) experienced more strengths in the personal, spiritual, and health domains while facing more challenges in the social, political, and financial domains. In addition, a thematic analysis identified three overarching themes reflecting FBF’s strengths, challenges, areas of support, and the impact of COVID-19: (a) adjustment as a foreign-born individual in the United States, (b) immigration status and procedures, and (c) working as a foreign-born faculty in counselor education. This article presents implications for FBF and stakeholders seeking to support this population, while also suggesting recommendations for future research.
View
Decolonizing Methodologies in Qualitative Research: Creating Spaces for Transformative Praxis
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2021
Though there is no standard model or practice for what decolonizing research methodology looks like, there are ongoing scholarly conversations about theoretical foundations, principal components, and practical applications. However, as qualitative researchers, we think it is important to provide tangible ways to incorporate decolonial learning into our research methodology and overall practice. In this paper, we draw on theories of decolonization and exemplars from the literature to propose four practices that can be used by qualitative researchers: (1) exercising critical reflexivity, (2) reciprocity and respect for self-determination, (3) embracing “Other(ed)” ways of knowing, and (4) embodying a transformative praxis. At this moment of our historical trajectory, it is a moral imperative to embrace decolonizing approaches when working with populations oppressed by colonial legacies.
View
Challenges, Changes, and Choices: Immigrant Academics of Color in American Academia
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2021
Immigration is a hotly debated and deeply polarizing topic in American society. The past few decades have seen an influx of immigrants from Asia, Africa, and the Americas who contend with having a double-minority status. This qualitative study advances an understanding of the lived experiences and acculturation process of immigrant academics of color within American academia. Findings indicate struggles of cultural disequilibrium, marginalization, and the challenges of gaining or regaining cultural, professional, and social capital. Their experiences and perspectives have explicit implications for adult learning.
View
Higher Education Experiences of International Faculty in the U.S. Deep South.
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2018
Immigration was one of the key issues from within the Obama administration. One focus of the administration was to retain brilliant foreign scholars who have studied in the United States (U.S). Rather than let International Faculty return to their countries after completing their programs, employers found it advantageous to retain these professionals to boost the United States workforce. Higher education was one of the government sectors that experienced an increase in the numbers of foreign nationals choosing to remain in the United States after completing their degrees. What many International Faculty may be oblivious of, and which their programs of study may or may not have prepared them for, was how their lives will be impacted by the U.S. American culture and their new Deep South environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the obstacles and opportunities for foreign born college faculty to contribute to the internationalization and globalization of the higher education in U.S., in Southeastern colleges. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews and online surveys. The researchers provided an overview of what International Faculty feel about colleagues, students, and the educational system in a region known for its Southern Hospitality, along with politics and racial biases. Interviews provided insight into International Faculty’s positive and negative experiences and what administrators can offer to help new International Faculty become more comfortable in their new environments. Findings also provided insight about International Faculty’s perceptions about the Southern culture, the people, and the community.
View
Everyday sexism and racism in the ivory tower: The experiences of early career researchers on the intersection of gender and ethnicity in the academic workplace
Article
Full-text available
The academic workplace is often described as a place of merit and equal opportunities. However, research shows a leaky pipeline where the share of women and people of color decreases in the higher echelons of academia. Explanations are often structural, referring to the access barriers women are confronted with, such as hiring and recruitment. This research investigates what goes wrong in the early phases of a female academic's career. From an intersectional perspective, I study the experiences with everyday sexism and racism of PhD and postdoctoral researchers across disciplines. After conducting 50 in‐depth interviews, four processes are discovered: smokescreen of equality, everyday cloning, patronization, and paternalism.
View
Multiple Discrimination against Female Immigrants Wearing Headscarves
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2019
Western countries have experienced a large influx of Muslim immigrants, and concomitantly the Muslim headscarf has become the subject of major controversy. Drawing on theories of stigma, social identity, and multiple discrimination/intersectionality, this study examines the effect of wearing this headscarf in the German labor market. The author applies the method of correspondence testing that allows measuring discrimination in a controlled field setting. Findings show that when applying for a job in Germany, women with a Turkish migration background are less likely to be invited for an interview, and the level of discrimination increases substantially if the applicant wears a headscarf. The results suggest that immigrant women who wear a headscarf suffer discrimination based on multiple stigmas related to ethnicity and religion.
View
Almost identical but still treated differently: hiring discrimination against foreign-born and domestic-born minorities
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2019
Focusing on birthplace (foreign vs. domestic) and origin group (European vs. Middle Eastern or African), this article examines the effects of cultural distance signals on discrimination against ethnic minority job applicants. Drawing on a cross-nationally harmonised correspondence test (N = 5780), we investigate how employers in five Western European destination countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the U.K.) respond to job applications from majority and minority group members, with minority job applicants being either very similar (domestic-born and/or European origin) to the majority population or rather different (foreign-born and/or Middle Eastern/African). Our results are generally consistent with taste-based discrimination theory. Employers pay attention to signals of cultural distance, which results in particularly high levels of discrimination against foreign-born minorities and against minorities originating from Middle Eastern and African countries. Although origin group has a stronger effect on employer responses than birthplace, they jointly exert an additive effect. This results in particularly low labour market chances for foreign-born minorities of Middle Eastern and African origin. Separate country analyses, however, reveal important country differences, both with respect to the size of the minority penalty and the joint effect of birthplace and origin group.
View
Intersectionality in Research: Call for Inclusive, Decolonized, and Culturally Sensitive Research Designs in Counselor Education
Article
  • Jun 2021
With the increasing growth of diversity and attention to intersectionality within our society, it is more important than ever that counselor researchers intentionally use methods that underscore the complex people we seek to serve. The Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC), as a division of the American Counseling Association (ACA), is especially committed to promoting diversity through novel methodological avenues and frameworks. Moreover, the AARC Diversity Committee encourages researchers in the field of counseling, and counselor education and supervision, to expand their research praxis to embody inclusive, decolonized, and culturally sensitive research practices. Suggestions and implications for inclusive, decolonized, and culturally sensitive research practices within the scope of counseling research are included.
View
View