Occupational Adjustment and Zimbabwean Immigrants in the United States

Review of the Literature

Employment is one of the key indicators of immigrant integration (Ager & Strang, 2008). Nevertheless, unemployment rates  tend to be highest among immigrant populations in the United States with the  highest recorded for  recently arrived Africans (those in the United States for 10 years or less) at 6% and lowest for European immigrants at 3.4% (Batalova, Fix & Creticos, 2008). In spite of the profound negative employment outcomes among African immigrants, research that examines the relationship between employment outcomes and well-being among African immigrants is lacking. This presentation will expand the social work knowledge base on the relationship between occupational adjustment and life satisfaction among Zimbabwean immigrants in the United States. The Occupation subscale of the Demands of Immigration Scale by Aroian (2003) was used to measure occupational adjustment with higher scores indicating difficulties in finding work or lower status. The Satisfaction with Life Scale was used to assess life satisfaction with higher scores indicating higher satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin 1985). In addition, coping strategies that are used by Zimbabwean immigrants to aid with career development will be explored.

 Methods: This research employed a mixed methods design that involved a survey to understand the relationship between occupational adjustment and life satisfaction among adult Zimbabwean immigrants over 18 years of age (N = 103) and in-depth face-to-face interviews  with 12 participants to understand their coping strategies. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations. Content analysis was used to explore coping strategies that are used by Zimbabwean immigrants to aid with career development. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 and an alpha level of .05 was used as a criterion for statistical significance for all tests.

Results: Results from the univariate analyses showed that 59 % stated of the participants experienced underemployment with more women reporting underemployment compared to men at 62.5% versus 55.8%. Furthermore, 41% of the respondents reported difficulties finding acceptable work. Comparisons of means showed that males reported more difficulties with their career adjustment compared to females with a mean of 14.67 versus 11.85. However, average life satisfaction scores for men were slightly higher than those for females at 21.46 and 19.49, respectively.  There were no statistically significant differences in occupational adjustment or satisfaction with life scores by gender, educational level or time in the United States. Qualitative results provided insight into some of the coping strategies that respondents used to promote occupational adjustment including pursuing professional certification, connecting with those possessing higher occupational authority, and information sharing.

Implications: In spite of the slight advantage in occupational adjustment among women in this study over their male counterparts, female participants reported lower life satisfaction. The overrepresentation of females in underemployment could explain the lower levels of life satisfaction. Further research on the unique experiences of female African immigrants is needed, as well as research that explores pathways through which occupational adjustment, life satisfaction, underemployment and demographic characteristics may influence integration experiences of immigrant populations.