Stepping up Your Game: Workplace Experiences of Second-Generation Nigerians in the USA

Onoso Imoagene ()
Additional contact information
Onoso Imoagene: University of Pennsylvania

Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2018, vol. 19, issue 2, No 17, 497-512

Abstract: Abstract This article discusses the workplace experiences of second-generation Nigerian adults in the USA. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 67 respondents, I show that second-generation Nigerians differ in whether they perceive racial discrimination in the workplace. There was an almost even split between subjects who felt they had been discriminated against because of their race and those who said they had not experienced anti-black discrimination. For those who felt they had been racially discriminated against at work, their experiences took very similar forms to those of African Americans, with many drawing analogies between their workplace experiences and those of African Americans and other blacks. But there was evidence of intra-black dynamics with some experiencing ethnic discrimination from African Americans and some enjoying an advantage over African Americans because they are children of black immigrants. I showcase two strategic responses found among respondents: minimizing ethnic difference and stepping up one’s game, which were used to negotiate racism and achieve economic mobility. This is consistent with the minority cultures of mobility thesis; that minority groups have cultures of mobility that foster upward social mobility, and it challenges segmented assimilation theory’s perception that black immigrant groups and their children lack tenacity or adaptive strategies.

Keywords: Black; Nigerian; Second-generation; Workplace discrimination; Strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-018-0542-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:joimai:v:19:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s12134-018-0542-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... tudies/journal/12134

DOI: 10.1007/s12134-018-0542-8

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Migration and Integration is currently edited by Lori Wilkinson

More articles in Journal of International Migration and Integration from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().