As a new academic year begins, here's a research study worth participating in: Dhara Thakar, a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, wants to understand "the social, emotional and academic changes among Indian students during their first year of graduate school in the United States."
The online survey is meant for new students who are enrolling this fall, and can be seen here. The goal is to get 200 students to fill out the survey by October 1 and then another five questionnaires over the next 12 months. Dhara also promises to make charitable contributions to Akshaya Patra for each survey completed.
There are thousands of Indian grad students in this country in any given year, and their value to the US economy and increasingly India's economy has been documented. But when I asked Dhara about this study, here's the response I received:
"The world's getting smaller – boundaries are blurring, and cultural values, beliefs, and practices are following suit. Given this fact, I became curious about the acculturation process of recent Indian immigrants, who are products of an era that boasts the existence of a global identity. I felt fragmented in my own way, having been raised "Indian" in the U.S. What was it like for new Indian immigrants who were of my generation to relocate to the American world they had only seen through the lens of the media, internet, and if they were lucky, relatives in the U.S.?"
To that effect, the study looks at how students feel/felt about arriving in the U.S. and adjusting to their new environment. Dhara said that while talking to Indian students on different campuses these are the kinds of concerns/hopes they shared:
"Before I came..."
- I was really worried about my financial situation.
- I didn't know who I'd live with...I just knew I'd feel more comfortable with someone who is also vegetarian.
- I was nervous about moving to a new country and leaving my friends and family behind.
- I looked forward to the opportunity to study in one of the top institutions for my field.
"When I landed..."
- My first thought was, "what will I eat?"
- I had no idea how to use the pay phone, being used to manned telephone booths in India.
- I felt relieved when a group of desis welcomed me by picking me up at the airport.
- I was homesick already.
"During my first year..."
- The winter months were the hardest – I had never seen the snow before!
- I relied on the Indian student organization for my social life.
- I felt more Indian than I'd ever felt in my life!
- I gradually felt more comfortable at my university.
Whether or not you take the survey, please pass it around to Indian grad students you know, or to any student associations you're affiliated with. Dhara promises to get back to us, when the study's been completed. If you want to get in touch with or interview Dhara, email dthakar[at]psych.umass.edu
Earlier on SAJAforum:
- Charting the health and social needs of Pennsylvania's Indians
- Professor Jagdish Bhagwati responds to study on Pennsylvania's Indians
- How does parental pressure affect career choice? Participants needed
- Measuring discrimination against South Asians
- Indians are slow to assimilate in America
- Indian couples needed for online survey - gender roles and relationship satisfaction
- Indian Americans and drug use
- The problem of binge drinking among young South Asians
