[EDEQUITY Immigrant Dialogue]Defining acculturation as a process

From: Norma Barquet (nbarquet@umich.edu)
Date: Wed Feb 07 2001 - 16:49:57 EST


Question: What helps immigrant girls in the process of acculturation?
Answer:The process of acculturation is the negotiation that takes place
between
one's culture and the mainstream culture in which one live. What helps
girls in this process is to have supportive environments both at home and
at school that can help them through this transition. Acculturation takes
time and immigrant girls need the opportunity to learn about the new
culture by interacting with others,in a supportive environment.

Principals, teachers and counselors can play a great role by educating
mainstream students and staff about issues of diversity and by providing
opportunities for rich cross-cultural experiences, such as getting to know
recent immigrants to learn about their experiences at home and in the US.,
hosting students from other countries, visiting with families overseas,
etc. Involving young people from the same cultural/linguistic background
as mentors/buddies can also ease the transition for recent immigrants
youth.

Schools should also ensure that the education of these students is not
taken for granted or diluted. Immigrant girls need language and academic
support to take advanced courses while they learn English. Schools tend to

place immigrant students in less challenging classes to deal with the
inability of the school to make instruction comprehensible to students
whose language is not English.
A recent article in USA Today (Thursday, January 25, 2001) reported on a
new study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW)
Educational Foundation which found that Hispanic females are lagging behind

other racial and ethnic groups in achieving educational success. While not

all Hispanic girls are immigrant, many who are leave school prematurely
decreasing their chances of success in a society that is increasingly
competitive.

The love and support of family and other members of their communities has a

tremendous impact on the lives of immigrant girls as they begin to adopt a
new language and new cultural values. Parents are often afraid and
threatened by the new culture in which they are found and often protect
their girls from real or perceived danger by limiting their participation
in activities and events where they can make friends and learn about the
new culture. Parents/families also need support from the schools, churches

and other community institutions. School or church sponsored
extracurricular activities can be very helpful because parents often feel
more comfortable if teachers and other adults are supervising the events.

Question: What factors affect the process of acculturation in
immigrant girls?
Factors such as personality, age, social-class, level of education, and
reason for immigration all play a key role on the acculturation process of
people.
Aside from the general issues affecting all immigrants in the process of
acculturation, girls have to contend with issues unique to their gender.
In many cultures, girls are required to baby-sit for their siblings and
elder members of the family, take care of house chores, and assume other
duties that are relegated to adults in our society. Because girls have
many of these responsibilities, their school work school work suffers and
their opportunities to participate in after school activities are
restricted.

Popular culture and the media has also an impact on immigrant girls. The
images of thin and beautiful girls/women (mostly white) in magazines and TV

ads can be detrimental to one's self-concept. Recent articles have noted
the increase in the cases of eating disorders among immigrant girls. In an

article titled "Immigrant Girls Are Starving to Be American" Emily Wax from

the Washington Post (March 12, 2000) quotes Catherine Steiner-Adair,
director of education, prevention and outreach at Harvard University's
Eating Disorder Center. She says that: " There is a clear message in this
country to young immigrant girls that, no matter how much you value your
brain and talents, being thin is more important that anything else."

Let's keep the conversation going.

Norma Barquet
<nbarquet@umich.edu>



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