Leveraging Outliers: Insights of Positive Deviance in Immigrant Integration

Co-investigators: Gabriela León-Pérez, Ph.D. 

Funding: VCU Breakthrough Fund 

This multi-disciplinary project is a collaboration with Drs. Saltanat Liebert (PI, VCU Wilder School), Daniel Morales (VCU History), and Grant Rissler (University of Richmond). Our study seeks to answer the following research question: What factors and social relationships contribute to the successful socioeconomic integration of immigrants in the United States who were educated abroad? The study employs a mixed-methods approach. Qualitative data collection involves in-depth qualitative interviews with internationally-educated immigrants who succeeded in entering the U.S. labor market in the occupations for which they were trained (or in related occupations) or as entrepreneurs running successful businesses. In addition, using GIS mapping, we are examining social capital data, the density of immigrant communities, and their relationships with immigrant socioeconomic outcomes.