There are 19.6 million immigrant children in the United States, yet only about 2 million of current college enrollees
are first- or second-generation immigrants. There are many reasons for
the discrepancy but one that doesn't get enough attention is the role
that culture plays in getting an education past high school. This is
something that Hetal Jani has personal experience with—in fact, it's the
reason she started SPEAK,
a non-profit organization that helps girls who are immigrants or
children of immigrants navigate the gap between high school and college
and career.
Add college to the list of things that are different in America
Always
a stellar student, Jani assumed that when she graduated from high
school she'd be able to apply to any college she liked and have a chance
at being accepted. That dream was dashed, however, when she began the
college application process and discovered that several of her dream
schools were out of reach. Why? She didn't have many extracurricular
activities to include and therefore wasn't seen as "well-rounded"
enough.
It was surprising news to her. As a child of Indian
immigrants, she'd grown up with the expectation that a) she'd definitely
go to college and b) getting top grades were enough to get there. Her
parents saw extracurricular activities like sports or volunteer work as
nice but not a top priority, not understanding how necessary they are
for applying to American schools. Not to mention that American schools have undergone a huge cultural shift over the past century.
Cultural expectations of girls
While cultural ideas, in
general, played a part, it was really her parents' traditional Indian
ideas about girls specifically that shaped her. Jani's parents preferred
her to come home right after school as they were concerned about her
safety and because in the culture they grew up in, girls weren't
encouraged to do extra activities and especially not leadership
activities. "Because of this I was very limited as to what I could do
outside of school," she explains. "And that cultural norm for girls is
what led to my confusion about what was necessary when applying to
colleges."
Different dreams
Despite not being able to apply for her
first-choice schools, Jani was determined to go to college and ended up
having a wonderful experience at Lehigh University, where she got her
bachelor's degree. She followed that up with three master's degrees,
including one from Harvard. Clearly her college application struggles
were just a speed bump on the path to her career and future success.
But,
she wondered, what about other immigrants or children of
immigrants—ones who suffered similar cultural confusion about college
and careers but perhaps weren't as fortunate in figuring it out?
Common cultural beliefs about education and girls around the world
Jani
knew that her parents' beliefs weren't limited to Indian culture. In
addition to her own experiences, she got to know a wide variety of
cultures through running a business where she provided educational
support classes to many students, including immigrants. It became clear
to her that there were a lot of girls who were missing opportunities to
continue schooling after high school due to cultural misunderstandings
and expectations. For instance, some cultures expect that a girl will
stay home and care for her family or only pursue certain safe subjects
and this can lead girls to miss important opportunities for growth and
leadership, she explains.
"We will send her back to Guyana to be married"
All these
thoughts coalesced when one of her top students, Katie (name has been
changed), was suddenly pulled out of her classes. The issue was a grade
that Katie's father considered to be too low, even though it was
actually quite good. He'd decided that if she wasn't going to get top
marks then he no longer wanted to support her education. "If she doesn't
get excellent grades, then I might send her back to Guyana to be
married," Katie's father explained. Katie's mother told her the next day
that as a woman in her culture, she didn't have a voice in her house to
stand up for her daughter. Katie's father removed her from the classes.
She was just 12 years old.
She knew she had to do something
Katie
certainly wasn't the only immigrant girl or daughter of immigrants
facing such challenges and Jani felt there had to be a way to reach
them, to work with the family to keep the girls in school. So in 2015,
she founded SPEAK mentorship.
The program works to match a girl with three professionals in a career
field she's interested in and who understands the girl's culture. Over
the course of a year, the mentors provide advice and relevant experience
in how to get into college and pursue that type of career while
navigating cultural differences. Girls are then provided with ongoing
information and assistance in applying to colleges and transitioning to
college life.
Reaching out to immigrant girls
At first, SPEAK was only
available in New York City but interest in the service grew quickly and
soon Hetal was fielding calls from all over the country. "That's
probably been the biggest surprise for me, how fast it's spreading," she
says. "It shows what a need there is for this."
To date, SPEAK
has impacted over 100 girls and their families in the United States and
has grown a volunteer network of over 200 career professionals who serve
as mentors to the young women of SPEAK. In 2017-2018 alone, SPEAK made
57 mentoring matches and conducted over 400 mentoring sessions with 75
girls, 94 percent of whom identify as immigrants.
Empower a girl, empower the world
What
started as a small question about her own experience has blossomed into
a huge cross-country volunteer network and Jani says she's learned a
lot along the way. "Perhaps my biggest lesson has been how important
everyone is to this work," she says. "The career landscape is always
changing and so it will take the community we're building to make sure
these girls are prepared for the jobs of the future." This is why each
of us who've made it up the ladder need to reach back to the lift the
ones below us—and before long we'll have a whole generation of strong
women leaders, she adds.
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