Papers by Stacey Wilson-Forsberg
The tightrope of transit and containment: A comparative scoping review of international migration to Chiapas and the Canary Islands (1991-2021)
REMHU, Nov 30, 2023
Qualitative research, Jun 11, 2024
In this Research Note, two researchers present their reflections on the ethical challenges they e... more In this Research Note, two researchers present their reflections on the ethical challenges they encountered while collecting life stories of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco and the Disputed Territory of Western Sahara. The reflections are based on field notes and excerpts from unedited transcripts of daily debriefing sessions that the researchers undertook together. The sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed into written notes. The materials reveal their thoughts and feelings as they grappled with the ethics of keeping their research participants ("Narrators") safe, working with community organizations on the ground, attempting to conduct interviews as humanely as possible, while also managing and concealing their own emotions.
Journal of Intercultural Communication
Drawing on qualitative research examining the integration experiences of immigrant adolescents in... more Drawing on qualitative research examining the integration experiences of immigrant adolescents in a small city (Fredericton population 50,535) and rural town (Florenceville-Bristol population 1,500) in New Brunswick, Canada, this article presents daily encounters between young immigrants and their native-born peers. It argues the citizens of Florenceville-Bristol are able to compensate for the absence of formal programming for immigrant youth by finding creative ways to communicate with the immigrant adolescents, recognizing their strengths and abilities, and including them in activities and structures where they would have the best fit. It concludes that cross-cultural interaction in our daily lives brings a more positive multicultural experience to communities when Allport’s (1954) four necessary conditions for contact to result in the reduction of prejudice are met.
Getting Used to the Quiet
Getting Used to the Quiet
Witnesses to inhumanity on shifting terrain: Embracing an ethic of discomfort for optimal learning in an international field course
Education, Citizenship and Social Justice
This paper examines the written reflections of 30 Canadian undergraduate students who participate... more This paper examines the written reflections of 30 Canadian undergraduate students who participated in an international field course focusing on migration and human rights in Mexico. It endeavors to understand how the students reconciled their thoughts and feelings about trauma and oppression in an intercultural setting. Borrowing Foucault’s ‘ethic of discomfort’, which emphasizes the proactive and transformative potential of discomfort in education, the paper extends existing scholarship in teaching and learning around study abroad and social justice by focusing on ethically complex situations in the field. The findings reveal that while preparation for unprecedented and unforeseeable scenarios during an international field course was challenging for faculty, exposing students to the realities of migration ultimately facilitated learning.
Scholarly and Research Communication, 2019
The first section of this article provides a brief history of Comparative and International Educa... more The first section of this article provides a brief history of Comparative and International Education (CIE), the official journal of the Comparative and International Education Society of Canada, over its almost 50-year history. The second section outlines general characteristics of the journal, including the role of the editors and editorial board, the bilingual nature of the journal, special issues, and book reviews. The article reviews the current general operations associated with the journal, providing details about financial aspects and changes in the production and dissemination processes as it moved from a print to an online format in 2012. Finally, the article recaps some challenges the journal has had and currently faces, as well as aspirations for the future. It demonstrates the resilience of the journal to adapt and notes the commitment of its champions, who have kept it going through challenging times. Keywords Journal publishing; Bilingual publishing; Editorial proces...
Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2019
This article employs a life course perspective to examine the life experiencesexpectations, disap... more This article employs a life course perspective to examine the life experiencesexpectations, disappointments and second chances-of young men from West African immigrant families who did not complete postsecondary education. Specifically, it demonstrates the discrepancy between the education and career expectations that parents have for their sons and the men's own expectations as they transitioned from high school to the labour market. Based on a larger qualitative study of the postsecondary education decisions of male African immigrant youth in Southern Ontario, Canada, the article highlights the life stories of 20 young men in Toronto who transitioned to adulthood in economically vulnerable families. The findings demonstrate that the young men took a non-linear path to the labour market.
The Volunteering Dogma and Canadian Work Experience: Do Recent Immigrants Volunteer Voluntarily?
Canadian Ethnic Studies, 2015
This article deconstructs the now common practice of immigrant volunteering for the purpose of up... more This article deconstructs the now common practice of immigrant volunteering for the purpose of upgrading or practicing job-related skills in Canada. The analysis draws on the findings of two separate qualitative studies related to the integration of immigrant adults in Southern Ontario. The first study (Wilson-Forsberg) focused on the settlement and adaptation experiences of immigrants (both men and women) from Latin America and the second study (Sethi) examined the impact of employment on the health and well-being of immigrant and refugee women from the visible minority population. Having re-analyzed our interview data to highlight the motivations behind participants’ volunteering and their perceptions of the experience, the findings suggest that immigrants volunteer to gain Canadian experience, to maintain remnants of professional identity, and to overcome loneliness and boredom. Intersectionality analysis of participants’ multiple intersecting identities reveals that immigrant volunteering is more complex than merely volunteering for upgrading human and/or social capital skills. The article concludes that, while volunteering can be beneficial to foster the social integration of immigrants, it appears to do little to enhance their economic integration. Cet article déconstruit la pratique maintenant courante des immigrants de faire du volontariat à fin d’améliorer ou de pratiquer leurs compétences liées à l’emploi au Canada. L’analyse repose sur les résultats de deux études qualitatives indépendantes reliées à l’intégration d’immigrants adultes dans le sud de l’Ontario. La première étude (auteur 1) a porté sur l’expérience d’établissement et d’adaptation d’immigrants (hommes et femmes) d’Amérique Latine et la deuxième étude (auteur 2) a examiné l’impact de l’emploi sur la santé et le bien-être de femmes immigrantes et réfugiées provenant de la population de minorités visibles. Après avoir révisé notre analyse des données ramassées lors des entrevues pour souligner les motivations qui poussent les participants à faire du volontariat et leurs perceptions de l’expérience, il apparaît que les immigrants font du volontariat pour gagner de l’expérience canadienne, pour maintenir un semblant d’identité professionnelle, et pour surmonter la solitude et l’ennui. L’analyse intersectionnelle des croisements multiples d’identités des participants révèle que le volontariat immigrant est plus complexe que le simple fait d’améliorer le capital d’habiletés humaines et/ou sociales. L’article conclut que bien que le volontariat soit bénéfique pour favoriser l’intégration sociale des immigrants, il ne semble pas rehausser leur intégration économique.
Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2014
The present study uses in-depth interviews with Latin American immigrants residing in Southwester... more The present study uses in-depth interviews with Latin American immigrants residing in Southwestern Ontario to explore how the immigrants interpret their experiences with employment and, more specifically, how the employment experiences influence their perceived integration into the receiving communities. My research findings suggest that skilled immigrants (especially those professionals selected through Canada's point system) arrive in Southwestern Ontario fully intending to integrate, but their inability to find suitable employment hinders close interaction with the receiving communities. Family and humanitarian class immigrants, who tend to be less skilled, give little thought to acculturation prior to migration. Once in Canada, they evaluate the receiving communities as satisfying their basic employment needs, and as a result, they interact slightly more with the receiving communities' norms, values and people. Differences between the two immigrant groups notwithstanding, my data show little evidence of frequent and intense interactions between the Latin American immigrants and Canadian-born members of the receiving society. The research participants appear to relate to the receiving society on an as-needed basis; none appear to be aggressively searching for and absorbing new things and meeting new people. Interestingly, there is also little evidence of the Latin American immigrants relating to each other.
North American Integration-Back to the Basics
As discussions about the future of North America continue, it is becoming clear to many of the ac... more As discussions about the future of North America continue, it is becoming clear to many of the actors involved that focusing on indefinite long-term options and scenarios for the region may be too visionary for this particular time. FOCAL? s third policy discussion paper on ...
Canadian journal of Latin American and Caribbean studies, vol. 31, no. 62, 2006: special issue on contesting the boundaries of citizenship
Canadian journal of Latin …, 2006
Comparative and International Education, 2018
This study explored growth in the intercultural competence of domestic and international students... more This study explored growth in the intercultural competence of domestic and international students who participated in an intercultural experiential learning initiative for academic credit. The initiative paired Canadian students in a second-year multiculturalism class at Wilfrid Laurier University with international students enrolled in the Laurier English and Academic Foundation (LEAF) program. Qualitative data derived from the oral and written reflections of three cohorts of students inform the study. The data were coded using pre-existing codes derived from learning objectives and reflection questions based on Deardorff’s (2006) Elements of Intercultural Competence Model. The findings suggest that while exposure to different cultural values and practices deepens domestic and international students’ knowledge and challenges their assumptions about each other, creating optimal conditions for meaningful intercultural contact between the students at a university may not adequately re...
Overcoming Obstacles on the Road to North American Integration-A View from Canada
New political circumstances in North America have caused many observers to envisage a gradual pro... more New political circumstances in North America have caused many observers to envisage a gradual process of continental integration outside of trade and commerce. In Canada, however, the concept of a more integrated North America can be difficult to fully ...
Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2017
The tradition of leaving high school and finding full-time employment after grade 8 has put Low G... more The tradition of leaving high school and finding full-time employment after grade 8 has put Low German-speaking (LGS) Mennonites in rural Southwestern Ontario in a vulnerable economic position. Consequently, alternative education programs have been developed by Ontario public school boards in areas containing high numbers of LGS Mennonites. The programs strive to keep LGS Mennonite youth in school by creating spaces where primarily male LGS Mennonite students feel more comfortable and can pursue a high school diploma while maintaining their religious beliefs, cultural identity, and work responsibilities. This article draws from qualitative interview data and open-ended survey responses to explore perceptions of LGS Mennonite men’s experiences in alternative education programs, and it highlights factors that caused the men to avoid or leave the programs. This article offers recommendations on how to strengthen the programs to increase the number of LGS Mennonite students attending th...
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIE
This paper offers a case study of how staying in one Mexico City
migrant shelter (albergue) help... more This paper offers a case study of how staying in one Mexico City
migrant shelter (albergue) helps refugee claimants from the northern countries of Central America to revise their plans and aspirations in light of the changing reality that has made it more difficult
for them to reach the United States. Specifically, we investigate
whether Albergue Tochán contains elements of an empowering
setting in which claimants can gain some control over their lives
as they wait for permission to stay in Mexico. The paper is based on
interviews, participant observation and follow-up conversations
with ten men, who, at the time of research in 2018–2019, were
staying at Albergue Tochán (an all-men’s shelter) while awaiting
decisions on their asylum cases. All of the men had intended to
migrate to the United States, but, for a variety of reasons, ended
their journeys in Mexico City. The paper demonstrates how the stay
at Albergue Tochán stabilized the conditions of life for these men,
at least temporarily. Through acquiring meaningful roles and relationships during their stay at the shelter, the men were empowered
to the extent that they built agency, trust, skills, identity and hope.
Claiming the Right to be Present
African Immigrant Students and Postsecondary Education in Canada: High School Teachers and School Career Counsellors as Gatekeepers
Canadian Ethnic Studies, 2020
Hanging on to hope in a Mexican migrant shelter: the empowering potential of Albergue Tochán
Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne des études latino-américaines et caraïbes
Stereotyping High School Immigrant African Male Students in Pursuit of Postsecondary Education
Critical Theorizations of Education
Why do certain rural communities have the capacity for renewal and innovation in the face of tran... more Why do certain rural communities have the capacity for renewal and innovation in the face of transformation, while others stagnate, decline, and die out? What factors are involved in the resiliency of the former communities, and what conditions cause the latter to falter in their capacity for survival? With the hope of gaining valuable insight in support of the economic development agenda of Atlantic Canada, this article reviews the definitional and theoretical literature surrounding the adaptation of rural communities to changes brought about by the transition to knowledge-based economies. The article defines and discusses the merits of community resiliency, community assets, community capitals, and social capital, placing these concepts within a larger entrepreneurial social infrastructure framework. The history and socio-economic realities of the four Atlantic Canadian Provinces are woven together in an effort to keep the literature review and arguments as relevant as possible to...
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Papers by Stacey Wilson-Forsberg
migrant shelter (albergue) helps refugee claimants from the northern countries of Central America to revise their plans and aspirations in light of the changing reality that has made it more difficult
for them to reach the United States. Specifically, we investigate
whether Albergue Tochán contains elements of an empowering
setting in which claimants can gain some control over their lives
as they wait for permission to stay in Mexico. The paper is based on
interviews, participant observation and follow-up conversations
with ten men, who, at the time of research in 2018–2019, were
staying at Albergue Tochán (an all-men’s shelter) while awaiting
decisions on their asylum cases. All of the men had intended to
migrate to the United States, but, for a variety of reasons, ended
their journeys in Mexico City. The paper demonstrates how the stay
at Albergue Tochán stabilized the conditions of life for these men,
at least temporarily. Through acquiring meaningful roles and relationships during their stay at the shelter, the men were empowered
to the extent that they built agency, trust, skills, identity and hope.