Department
Organization Development
Date
Spring 5-8-2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Organization Development (Ed.D.)
Type of Paper/Work
Dissertation
Advisor
Marcella de la Torre
Second Advisor
Robert Barnett
Third Advisor
Jean Davidson
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of Liberian Immigrants in career advancement to leadership positions in the United States. In this study, there were a total of six Liberians interviewed; three women and three men, and their ages ranged from 35-51. These interviews were done in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each participant interviewed in this study was able to speak in detail about their experience beginning with his or her migration process to the United States, their experiences living in the United States, and their achievements. Each participant has at least a master’s degree. One of the participants has a master’s degree from Liberia while the rest of the participants had their master’s degrees from universities or colleges in the United States.
The participants discussed details about their experiences in terms of the challenges, barriers, and opportunities they had in the United States since immigrating. During the interviews, four contextual themes and four essential themes emerged. The Contextual themes that emerged were (a) having an advanced or graduate education from the U.S., (b) having work experience in management, (c) networking and being actively employed while seeking advancement, and (d) cultural barriers. The essential themes were (a) growing as a leader, (b) behave as a responsible United States Citizen (c) Demonstrate Adaptability and Resilience in the Face of Potential Discrimination and Inequality.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Bernard, Joshua Z., "Liberian Immigrants' Experiences in Career Advancement to Leadership Positions in the United States of America: A Phenomenological Study" (2023). Education Doctoral Dissertations in Organization Development. 88.
https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_orgdev_docdiss/88