Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Jennifer Fei Social Science

Resettlement Refugee Programs and Economic Empowerment: A Case Study of the International Rescue Committee in the United States

Jennifer’s research will explore the impact of current International Rescue Committee (IRC) Resettlement Programs on female economic empowerment. Her working hypothesis is that the empowerment effect of the IRC on refugee women will vary depending on cultural norms, resettlement program type, and resulting employment. She will study female refugee populations lived experiences and the development of the IRC Economic Empowerment program development in New York City through regional and headquarters offices. She will focus on how IRC programs later affect refugee women’s perception of family life, self-sufficiency, and personal autonomy upon moving to the US. The narratives encountered in this exploratory study may point to the ways in which NGOs such as the IRC can modify existing or new resettlement programs to address the contextual needs of refugee women in the United States.

Profile image of Jennifer Fei
Major: Political Economy
Mentor: Mentor: Michael J. Austin, Social Welfare
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