Employment-Related Information Experiences of Bangladeshi Immigrants in New York City
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29173/cais1955Keywords:
Information experience, human information interaction, settlement information sourcesAbstract
This paper reports some key findings from a recent study on the employment-related information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants to New York City. Using semi-structured interviews, the author interviewed 26 Bangladeshi immigrants in New York City between July 2024 and October 2024. In this work in progress paper, the author mainly discusses the information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants to New York in terms of their personal networks, including friends, family, and co-ethnic community people.
Les expériences informationnelles liées à l’emploi des immigrants·tes Bangladais·es dans la ville de New York
Résumé
Ce travail en cours présente les résultats de 26 entrevues semi-structurées menées auprès d’immigrant·e·s Bangladais·es de la ville de New York, en se concentrant sur leurs expériences informationnelles liées à l’emploi. Il examine le rôle des réseaux personnels, tels que les ami·e·s, la famille et les membres de la communauté co-ethnique, dans la transmission des informations liées à l’emploi, avant et après leur arrivée. Dans cette étude, tandis que certain·e·s participant·e·s ont indiqué avoir reçu des renseignements et du soutien utile et opportun en matière d’emploi, d’autres ont eu des renseignements et des conseils obsolètes, vagues ou encore erronés. Les premières constatations de ce rapport mettent en évidence la complexité des expériences informationnelles des personnes immigrantes en lien avec l’emploi, ancrées dans des contextes culturels spécifiques. Elles offrent de précieuses perspectives pour les chercheurs·euses en science de l’information, en études sur la migration, en politique publique et d’autres disciplines connexes.
Mots-clés
Expérience informationnelle; interaction informationnelle humaine; sources informationnelles pour l’intégration
References
American Immigration Council (2018, June 11). The immigrant success story: How family-based immigrants thrive in America. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrant-success-story
Asian American Federation (2019). Profile of New York City’s Bangladeshi Americans. https://www.aafederation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2019bn.pdf
Allard, D. (2022). “So many things were new to us”: Identifying the settlement information practices of newcomers to Canada across the settlement process. Journal of Documentation, 78(2), 334–360. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-02-2021-0024
Allard, D. & Caidi, N. (2018). Imagining Winnipeg: The translocal meaning making of Filipino migrants to Canada. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 69(10), 1193-1204. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24038
Audunson, R., Essmat, S., & Aabø, S. (2011). Public libraries: A meeting place for immigrant women?. Library & Information Science Research, 33(3), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2011.01.003
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide (1st ed.). Sage. London
Bruce, C., Davis, K., Hughes, H., Partridge, H., & Stoodley, I. (2014). Information experience: Contemporary perspectives. In Information experience: Approaches to theory and practice (pp. 3–15). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Caidi, N. and Allard, D. (2005). Social inclusion of newcomers to Canada: An information problem?. Library & Information Science Research, 27(3), 302-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2005.04.003
Caidi, N., Allard, D., & Quirke, L. (2010). Information practices of immigrants. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 44(1), 491–531. https://doi.org/10.1002/aris.2010.1440440118
Caidi, N., Komlodi, A., Abrao, A.L., & Martin-Hammond, A. (2014). Collectively figuring it out: Foreign-trained health professionals and labor market integration. LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal 24(2): 118. https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.ntu.edu.sg/dist/8/644/files/2015/03/LIBRESv24i2p118-131.Caidi_.2014.pdf
George, U., & Chaze, F. (2009). “Tell me what I need to know”: South Asian women, social capital and settlement. Journal of International Migration and Integration/Revue de l'integration et de la migration internationale, 10(3), 265-282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-009-0102-3
Kolarić, A., Martinović, I., & Stričević, I. (2025). Information practices of young Croatian emigrants to Ireland. IFLA Journal, 03400352251321193.
Mabi, M., O'Brien, H. L., & Nathan, L. P. (2022). Questioning the role of information poverty in immigrant employment acquisition: empirical evidence from African immigrants in Canada. Journal of Documentation, 79(1), 203–223. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-11-2021-0233
Marshall, M.B., Cox, A. & Birdi, B. (2020). The role of information in the migration experience of young Polish women in the UK. Journal of Documentation, 76(4), 849–868. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-08-2019-0158
NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigration Affairs. (2018). State of our immigrant city. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/immigrants/downloads/pdf/annual-report-2018.pdf
Pavilon, J. & Virgin, V. (2022). Social determinants of immigrants’ health in New York City: A study of six neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. https://cmsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Social-Determinants-of-Immigrants-Health-in-New-York-City-A-Study-of-Six-Neighborhoods-in-Brooklyn-and-Queens-June-15-2022-FINAL.pdf
Pew Research Center (2021, April 29). Bangladeshis in the U.S. fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/asian-americans-bangladeshis-in-the-u-s/
Rayes, W., Martin‐Hammond, A., Komlodi, A., Caidi, N., & Sundin, N. (2016). An informed transition? International medical graduates settling in the United States and Canada. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 53(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301068
Shuva, N.Z. (2020). Information, employment, and settlement of immigrants: Exploring the role of information behaviour in the settlement of Bangladesh immigrants in Canada. PhD Dissertation, The University of Western Ontario, Canada. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/6877/
Shuva, N. Z. (2021). Information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada. Journal of Documentation, 77(2), 479–500. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-08-2020-0137
Shuva, N. Z. (2022). “I actually got my first job through my ex-colleague”: Employment-related information seeking behavior of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 54(1), 34–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000621992806
Shuva, N. Z. (2024). “They act like we are going to heaven”: Pre-arrival information experiences, information crafting and settlement of immigrants in Canada. Journal of Documentation, 80(7), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd-05-2023-0082
Teixeira, C., & Drolet, J. L. (2018). Settlement and housing experiences of recent immigrants in small-and mid-sized cities in the interior of British Columbia (Canada). Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 33(1), 19-43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-017-9550-9
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Nafiz Zaman Shuva
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
