Transnational Immigrants by Uma Sarmistha

Author:Uma Sarmistha
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811385421
Publisher: Springer Singapore

In Conclusion

The quantitative findings indicate that majority of the respondents were very positive about their life in the U.S. in general. Very few professionals stated that the temporary stay has negatively affected their socialization and recreational activities. At the same time, however, there was evidence of alienation among the migrant workers and a reluctance to disassociate themselves with their native country.

Almost three-fourth of the respondents agreed with the statement that they wanted to return to India as they felt that “they belonged there”. However, many also noted their life in the U.S. was much more easier and the work culture had many elements to their liking such as fewer working hours, strong work ethics, and respect for fellow workers. Scores on the self-esteem scale were very high for majority of the respondents, which indicates overall happiness and satisfaction with their lives. However, the results of the regression analysis suggest that while their influence is negligible, both leisure time and work transnationalism have a negative effect on self-esteem. Despite their approval of aspects of U.S. work culture, their higher compensation and fewer work hours, scores on the job satisfaction scale indicated that respondents were only moderately satisfied with their jobs.

Finally, the qualitative study reinforces the findings and suggests that these professionals are very happy with higher income and luxurious life. They see a better future for their family in the U.S. However, at the same time, they fear of losing their Indian cultural and family ties. Longer the stay in the U.S. the adjustment to culture and beliefs becomes easier; however, at the same time, the longer these professionals lives in the U.S., they realize there is no growth in job profile (even though there is higher income) and the issues of visa become the central part of work and life. Thus, the major reason for why these professionals did not score higher on job satisfaction scale even with higher compensation (salary) could be the lack of career advancement because of visa restrictions. Also, the professionals who have kids start thinking about what life they want to give to their kids and how Americanized their kids should become.

Footnotes

1For measuring self-esteem, Rosenberg scale of self-esteem was created and administered in the sample survey (Rosenberg 1989). It refers to an instrument which measures how an individual feels about his/her self.

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