The Impact on Bosnian Women Who Came As Refugees to the United States
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HIGHER EDUCATION: THE IMPACT ON BOSNIAN WOMEN WHO CAME AS REFUGEES TO THE UNITED STATES by Belma Sadikovic A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction Boise State University May 2017 © 2017 Belma Sadikovic ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COLLEGE DEFENSE COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVALS of the dissertation submitted by Belma Sadikovic Dissertation Title: Higher Education: The Impact on Bosnian Women who came as Refugees to the United States Date of Final Oral Examination: 24 April 2017 The following individuals read and discussed the dissertation submitted by student Belma Sadikovic, and they evaluated her presentation and response to questions during the final oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination. Claudia Peralta, Ph.D. Co-Chair, Supervisory Committee Stanley Steiner, Ph.D. Co-Chair, Supervisory Committee Petros Panaou, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee The final reading approval of the dissertation was granted by Claudia Peralta, Ph.D., Co- Chair of the Supervisory Committee and Stanley Steiner, Ph.D., Co-Chair of the Supervisory Committee. The dissertation was approved by the Graduate College. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the following: To the bright and courageous women who came to the United States as refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and were willing to share their time and your stories. Thank you for sharing your stories of struggles and success. Your resilient spirit taught me so much about life. Your friendship means much to me. To a woman, who has a special place in my heart, my beloved mother, Emira Omeragić, who has supported me in every way possible with wise guidance, advice, and much love. I am, because of you. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It takes more than these words on paper to express my gratitude toward the many important people in my life who deserve my acknowledgements. Nonetheless, I would like to start by thanking my doctoral committee, Dr. Claudia Peralta, Dr. Stan Steiner, and Dr. Petros Panaou for their encouragement, guidance and their endless support. My deepest appreciation is extended to Dr. Claudia Peralta who encouraged and empowered me to study my own ethnic population. You played an integral part in envisioning this work, and have supported the importance of this study and thereby helped establish the voice of the Bosnian refugee women. I could not have chosen a better mentor, friend and scholar. No words can express the influence you have on me. It was you who encouraged me to study Bosnian women. I am a better person because of you. I owe a tremendous amount of appreciation to Dr. Stan Steiner, who was not only my dissertation co-chair, but also a teacher, a mentor, and a friend. Your words always make me regain self-confidence. Thank you for believing in my work and encouraging me to choose a topic that is very dear to my heart. You are an irreplaceable mentor and a role model. You have been there for me even before I pursued my doctoral journey and I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for me or show my gratitude I feel for your important role in my life. I have been so privileged to be your student. I have had the privilege to have Dr. Petros Panaou as my committee member, professor, and a friend. Thank you for encouraging me to focus my research on Bosnian refugee women in higher education. You encouraged me to examine my own experiences v in life in relation to theory and my positionality in research. Thank you for your ever- thoughtful questions and suggestions. I am extremely thankful for having had your mentorship, and more importantly, your friendship. I have had the honor to learn from Dr. Diane Boothe. Thank you for supporting this scholarship and for helping me present my study in the best light possible. I appreciate your expertise and your editing skills. Your commitment to helping underrepresented students inspires me. I appreciate your friendship. My utmost respect and appreciation goes to an awesome Boise State University librarian turned my friend, Elaine Watson, for using her keen editing skills. Thank you for your interest in my study, your encouragement, and your willingness to use your valuable time to help me edit my work. Julie Weigt, thank you so much for all your help with my dissertation. You were always available when I had a question about formatting my dissertation. It was you who helped me feel at ease with the template. Thank you for your expertise, encouragement, and support. You are a vital part of the Graduate Office at Boise State University. I also want to thank my husband, Refik Sadiković, for helping me with technology and for supporting me during this challenging, yet rewarding process. Thank you all for providing me with inspiration and support in my final experiences as a Boise State University student. All of you contributed to my growth as an educator and person. I send heartfelt thanks to my high school teacher, Mr. Bradberry, for believing in me. You believed in my ability to pursue college and succeed academically, when I could not believe in myself. Without your counsel and empowerment, I would not be where I am today. You instilled hope back into my life. vi My deepest gratitude goes to my TRiO advisor, Mr. Jim Wright, who spent months helping me with college and scholarship applications during my senior year in high school. Without your guidance, I am certain that I would never have pursued my academic journey. I would like to offer my inmost respect to the ten courageous Bosnian women, Azra, Ajla, Emina, Selma, Lejla, Lea, Una, Senka, Mia, and Lamija who came as refugees and provided their valuable time, and shared their life stories with me. They are the true inspiration behind this study. Those bright and courageous women are the foundation of my work. I will forever remember your stories and the trust you placed in me. You have contributed to my growth as scholar, but more importantly as a person. As a Bosnian woman and someone who came to the United States as a refugee, it is my duty and my honor to share your refugee experiences of struggle and success. My hope is that this study will contribute to the literature on higher education and inform others about the impact college education has on the self-sufficiency and integration of Bosnian women who came as refugees and their new communities. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Nidžara Pečenković and the board members of the Bosnian-American Professional Association (BAPA) for supporting my research and for helping me recruit study participants. I also want to express my sincere appreciation to Ida Sefer, the board chair of the Bosnian American Genocide Institute and Education Center (BAGI), for supporting this study and helping me recruit participants. Finally, I want to thank my parents, Emira and Ismet Omeragić, to whom I owe my deepest gratitude. I am especially grateful to have parents who, even during the vii darkest times in our lives when missiles and grenades flew over our heads, never gave up and never stopped believing in humanity. Your resilience is admirable. Mom, thank you for being my role model, for teaching me good values and for continually instilling the importance of pursuing an education, especially during our times in exile. Dad, thank you for believing in me. Your wise counsel has been a special blessing. My gratitude goes to you both for shaping me into the person I am today. viii ABSTRACT This study examines the impact college education has on Bosnian refugee women who resettled to the United States. The research findings help us better understand the effect higher education has on female students who came to the United States as refugees, their self-sufficiency and their overall integration into their new society. Using Kunz’s refugee theory and Bourdieu’s theory on social and cultural capital as a theoretical framework, the study explores socio-cultural factors that enable and constrain the ability of Bosnian women to navigate the facets of higher education, and how those factors affect their self-sufficiency and overall integration. The participants came to the United States from Bosnia and Herzegovina as refugees during the mid-1990s and early 2000, and are first generation Bosnian or Bosnian-Americans living throughout the United States. The Bosnian women range in age from 26 to 40, and achieved levels of education ranging from a current undergraduate to doctorates. Narrative inquiry methodology was used to represent the ten participants through their personal stories. Data collection methods included recorded individual in-depth interviews along with field notes, and a focus group follow-up. The study results illustrate how Bosnian women’s multiple uprooted experiences as refugees affected their educational experiences and their disposition toward a college education. A rich account of the women’s complex experiences in their native country, temporary exile, and the United States, provides educators, educational policy makers, professional staff, and the host community a framework for how to efficiently support Bosnian refugee students as they integrate into ix their new community and bridge into higher education. Recommendations for other refugee communities and the U.S. refugee policy makers to support effective integration of refugees are also provided. x TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................