Employability Translation for Employment Outcomes Between Immigrant and American PhD Graduates

• In Event: Doctoral Student Persistence and Academic Employment

Abstract

This multiple case study examined how immigrant and American Ph.D. graduates translated their employability as capital into employment outcomes in the U.S. labor market. Through Bourdieu’s lens, I found three overarching themes: perceiving employability via capital, struggling in the field, and adjusting habitus. The findings showed that obtaining academic employment depends so much on capital, and some required forms of capital are not available for immigrants. The lack of capital among immigrants revealed the influence of American social structure on immigrants’ academic employment outcomes. This should hurt the talent diversity among academics in the U.S. higher education.

Authors

• Elsa Elsa Gonzalez, University of Houston
  Presenting Author

• Binh Chi Bui, University of Houston
  Presenting Author