Date of Award:

5-2016

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Sociology and Anthropology

Department name when degree awarded

Sociology

Committee Chair(s)

Leon Anderson

Committee

Leon Anderson

Committee

Erin Hofmann

Committee

Stephen VanGeem

Abstract

The Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology Department at Utah State University conducted a state-wide needs assessment of refugees in Utah for the Utah
Department of Workforce Services. Using the data collected for this project, I analyzed the interview transcripts of twenty-four participants in the study including eight employers of refugees, eight Iraqi refugees, and eight Burmese refugees. I looked at the skills, education, finances, personal connections, personal attitudes, and cultural knowledge of the refugees and compared those to the desires of the employers of
refugees.

I found that the employers favored refugee employees because they work hard and do not cause problems, but the employers were concerned with the refugee’s general
lack of English language skills. Many refugees worked in very difficult, low-wage, low-skill jobs because their lack of language skills kept them from obtaining better
employment. Since the data already existed for the Department of Workforce Services’ needs assessment, the costs for this research were negligible.

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