Browsing by Author "Long, Jennifer"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Cults: to be or not to be: exploring the topic of cults within anthropology
    (2020) Fischer, Jamie; Long, Jennifer
    Despite the significance of cults as a social group in other disciplines, anthropologists have paid little attention to these sub-cultures as a viable area of research. Social scientists in other disciplines, such as sociology and psychology, have explored cults as a social and mental phenomenon; yet, anthropological investigations tend to be limited to studying cargo cults outside North America. Sociologists have defined and categorized cults in numerous ways: as a social movement or a religious movement. In this presentation, I hypothesize that anthropologists do not study cults due to their methodological practices and theoretical approach to working with communities.
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    Engineering student experiences of group work
    (2022) Rajabzadeh, Amin Reza; Long, Jennifer; Saini, Guneet; Zeadin, Melec
    Soft skills are a crucial component for success in today’s workplace as employers increasingly value work that is collaborative and encompasses diverse perspectives. Despite this, most engineering programs fail to explicitly teach students transferable skills, including the best practices of group work. This research sought to explore how undergraduate experiences of group work change over time. This research also investigated what reflecting on cooperative education (co-op) experiences tells us about teaching group work in academic settings. Despite frequently noting the influence of group work in developing their communication skills and brainstorming ideas over time, students become somewhat more frustrated over time with their experiences of group work, mainly due to conflicting personalities and ideas among team members and/or a “slacker” student. However, our findings also show that students become more confident working in teams over time, as upper-year students were more likely to assume a leadership role and self-reported higher past performance as a group member. This study offers insights into the changing group work experiences of undergraduate engineering students as they progress through coursework and engage in experiential learning and work-integrated learning opportunities, such as co-op placements. The findings of this study can inform educators on how to best incorporate methods for teaching transferable soft skills.
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    Immigrant perceptions of integration in the Canadian workplace
    (2020) Ertorer, Secil E.; Long, Jennifer; Fellin, Melissa; Esses, Victoria M.
    Purpose – This paper explores integration experiences of immigrants in the Canadian workplace from the perspective of immigrants themselves, focusing on cultural capital and cultural judgments as factors influencing workplace entry, advancement and social integration in an increasingly diverse work environment. Design/methodology/approach – An interpretive approach that involved thematic analysis of in-depth interview data was employed. Findings – The findings reveal that the official two-way multiculturalism policy of Canada is not reflected in the Canadian workplace and that structural forces of assimilation are evident. Cultural judgments and immigrants’ cultural capital create barriers for integration. Research limitations/implications – While highlighting important aspects of immigrant experiences within the Canadian workplace, the study findings cannot generate a fully representative theorization of immigrant employment experiences in Canada. Further studies with diverse migrant groups in different parts of the country would shed more light on the issues faced by immigrants. Practical implications – The barriers to social integration identified by this study can be largely overcome by improving intercultural skills and cultural intelligence of employers and employees through training and incorporating values of diversity and inclusion into the corporate culture. Social implications – The factors that foster and hinder workplace integration identified by this study can inform workplace integration strategies and related policies. Originality/value – Much of the literature concerning immigrants’ position in Canada address the economic integration and economic well-being of immigrants, focusing on quantitative, macro level analyses of earnings disparity and labor market segmentation. There is a lack of qualitative research that explores the integration process through the lens of immigrants. Informed by the theories of cultural capital, cultural judgment and integration, the study sheds light on the everyday workplace experiences of skilled migrants and perceived barriers to workplace entry, advancement and social integration.
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    Intersectional spatial politics: Investigating the establishment of white public spaces using spatial capital in Rotterdam
    (2022) Long, Jennifer
    Recently, Dutch scholars have called attention to the “culturalization of citizenship,” a phenomenon in which racialized and Muslim immigrants are required not only to integrate politically or economically, but also publicly demonstrate Dutch cultural values. Using an ethnographic case study of cycling courses in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, I use Ryan Centner’s work on spatial capital to understand how privileged local inhabitants can consume and imbue public spaces with their own spatial practices and perceptions. It becomes apparent that women perceived as Muslim lack spatial capital because of others’ perceptions of their nonbelonging, here against a backdrop of local “Dutch” spaces, what I call “spatial poverty.” This concept calls attention to the racialized narratives of national belonging in the local uses of public places, highlighting the role of everyday white majority community members as state actors.
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    Using experiences of sexism to build awareness and engagement of white skin privilege
    (2021) Long, Jennifer; Ertorer, Secil E.
    Historically, academe has been regarded as a male space owing to the assumption that knowledge is masculine. Further complicating this inequity is the tendency of academe to favour authoritarian perspectives largely associated with male ways of knowing. As women academics struggle to negotiate hospitable professional spaces, they are often pulled between conflicting senses of self. Scholarly writing within disciplinary contexts is one way that women can employ agency against patriarchy to author their own sense of self. In this spirit, this peer-reviewed collection aims to bring awareness to the unique experiences of women in the academy.