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2 - Uncertainty and Disruption in the Transition to Adulthood During COVID-19
- Edited by Glenn W. Muschert, Kristen M. Budd, Miami University, David C. Lane, Illinois State University, Jason A. Smith
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- Book:
- Social Problems in the Age of COVID-19 Vol 2
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 23 March 2021
- Print publication:
- 21 October 2020, pp 15-26
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Summary
The Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardized the successful transition to adulthood for many youth around the world. The present health and economic crisis has diminished youth's capacity to acquire key adult markers, including finishing school, the acquisition of stable employment, obtaining an independent residence, marriage, and parenthood. Due to significant and widespread disruptions stemming from the pandemic, youth have become increasingly vulnerable at a critical life stage. Inequalities in the transition to adulthood, already problematic before the pandemic, have deepened. However, the impacts of COVID-19 on youth are not uniform across countries; they depend largely on national institutional arrangements and social policy. This chapter addresses the implications of COVID-19 and its aftermath for educational, employment, and family-related transitions to adulthood.
The economic downturn and uncertainty induced by the pandemic have resulted in wide-ranging effects on postsecondary education and training, from the availability of public funding for these programs to their affordability. Unemployment and reductions in work hours have lessened families’ capacity to pay for their children's tuition and other educational costs. Moreover, in some countries, for the first time in the history of higher education, attendance may be a health risk that could discourage enrollment and completion. In this context, youth may lower their educational aspirations, have increasing difficulty obtaining postsecondary educational degrees, and/or drop out due to lack of resources. These problems could exacerbate preexisting racial and class inequalities in educational outcomes, leading to increasingly divergent socioeconomic opportunities both within and between countries.
Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardized young people's successful entry to, and establishment in, the workforce. Long-term structural changes and increased global competition have made work uncertain and unstable, especially for young adults entering the job market. The pandemic has worsened this problem and is likely to widen occupational and income inequalities. The lack of institutional bridges from school to work in some countries, such as the United States, China, and Brazil, makes job entry particularly challenging, even in good economic times. As labor markets tighten in such countries during this pandemic, youth have experienced mounting unemployment from which they will struggle to fully recover even when economic conditions improve.
twelve - Balancing family, aspirations, and higher education: the gendered experiences of second-generation Arab American college women
- Edited by Glenda Tibe Bonifacio
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- Book:
- Global Youth Migration and Gendered Modalities
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 27 April 2022
- Print publication:
- 17 April 2019, pp 219-234
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Summary
Introduction
Arab Americans comprise over 1.8 million people in the US (Ajrouch and Shin, 2018) identified as having ancestry from 18 nations [Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen] (Asi and Beaulieu, 2013). They have received scholarly attention in terms of identity, religiosity, and citizenship. However, little research has examined the college experiences of these recent immigrants. Middle Eastern and Muslim American family values stress family obligation and kin support over individual needs (Haddad and Smith, 1996). Muslim American parents often attempt to preserve religious beliefs and practices and resist children's acculturation to dominant American culture (Haddad and Smith, 1996). Christian Arab Americans have had a relatively easier assimilation into white American society (Ajrouch and Jamal, 2007), although they also face cultural adaptation. This situation creates tensions for young adult college students, although little is known about how they navigate this process. In this chapter, we examine the gendered college experiences of Arab American young women, especially how they blend their college experiences with family expectations.
In the American context, college students fall into an “emerging adulthood” period (age 18–25). This phase represents a period of “independent role exploration” (Arnett, 2000, p. 469), characterized by identity exploration in careers and romance, a lack of adult responsibilities, and a time of experimentation. Research on Arab American emerging adults has found that they experience psychological pressure as a result of straddling two competing cultural worlds: the Arab community, which emphasizes ethnicity and family togetherness, and the individualistic American society which their parents often consider to be morally compromised (Swanson, 1996; Naber, 2012).
Generally, Arab and Muslim parents adhere to a more traditional or conservative approach to gender interactions between young adults in comparison to the more liberal American dating practices (Haddad and Smith, 1996). In particular, girls and young women are closely supervised and have restrictions on their interactions with the opposite sex (Haddad and Smith, 1996; Haddad, 2009). Middle Eastern and Arab American parents focus on pro-natalist values, such as early marriage and childbearing, and girls’ purity before marriage.
13 - “I’m Not Voting for Her”: Internalized Misogyny, Feminism, and Gender Consciousness in the 2016 Election 204
- Edited by Christine A. Kray, Tamar W. Carroll, Hinda Mandell
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- Book:
- Nasty Women and Bad Hombres
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 02 June 2021
- Print publication:
- 10 October 2018, pp 204-218
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Summary
”I’m not voting for her.”
—A middle-aged, female, registered Democrat, as told to the author in a get-out-the-vote call in Michigan on November 8, 2016.The 2016 election was surprising in many respects. Preelection polls consistently predicted a popular and electoral win for Hillary Clinton. With the presence on the ballot of the first female major-party presidential candidate, there were many expectations that women would vote for Clinton in large numbers. According to exit polls, women of color did, in fact, follow this pattern: among this demographic, 81 percent of those with no college degree and 77 percent of those with a college degree voted for Clinton. As predicted, the majority of men (52 percent overall and 62 percent of white men) reported voting for Trump. What pollsters failed to predict, however, was the voting behavior of white women, 52 percent of whom voted for Donald Trump. When considering educational background, these numbers are even more striking: among white women, 61 percent of those without a college degree and 44 percent of those with a college degree voted for Trump. Rural white women also disproportionately supported Trump. However, despite nearly evenly split voter identification, a majority of white women have been voting Republican for president for the past 60 years, with the exception of only two presidential contests. One possible reason for inaccurate polls in 2016 is “shy Trumpers” who were not honest about their voting plans. Exit polls revealed that 18 percent of voters held an unfavorable view of both candidates and that these votes went disproportionately to Trump. There were also a large number of Obama supporters who simply did not vote in 2016. These figures raise questions not only about white women's voting behavior, but also about gender consciousness and how women view other women in leadership positions.
As I will argue, internalized misogyny, gender consciousness, and feminist consciousness all influenced women's voting behavior and activism in the election. Gender consciousness is an awareness of women's political and social interests and makes salient the status of women as women. Gender consciousness is distinct from feminist consciousness, which is an awareness and critique of gender inequalities and patriarchy.