FRIENDSHIP NETWORKS OF IMMIGRANT AND ETHNIC MINORITY WOMEN THAT ARE CONDUCIVE TO SOCIAL INTEGRATION

EXISTING LITERATURE HAS EVIDENCED THE GENDERED DIMENSION OF FRIENDSHIPS, INVOLVING THAT WOMEN ARE SHAPED BY THEIR FRIENDSHIPS IN A DISTINCT WAY THAN MEN: FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN WOMEN CAN EITHER PROMOTE PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OR/AND LEAD TO GENDER TRANSFORMATION (E,G,; MODELLING THEIR DISPOSITION TO BECOME AWARE OF GENDER RELATIONS, TAKE ACTION TO FURTHER EMANCIPATION OR RECEIVE SUPPORT FOR CHANGES MADE), OR LEAD TO BE EXPOSED TO SITUATIONS OF EMOTIONAL OR EVEN PHYSICAL INSTABILITY. IN TURN, RESEARCH HAS ALSO SHOWN THAT SOCIALIZING PRACTICES SUCH AS LEISURE AND CULTURAL CONSUMPTION, OR EVEN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE, MEDIATES IN A GENDERED WAY HOW WOMEN INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER AND NAVIGATE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS. HOWEVER, WHILE RESEARCH HAS MOSTLY FOCUSED ON HOW THIS HAPPENS IN GIRLS AND ADOLESCENTS, SCANT ATTENTION HAS BEEN PAID ON HOW THIS OCCURS IN THE CASE OF WOMEN GROUPS OF FRIENDSHIP IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD (AS DEFINED BY THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, THE PERIOD BETWEEN18 AND 25 YEARS OLD). EVEN SO, THERE IS MINIMAL LITERATURE, EVEN AT THE DESCRIPTIVE LEVEL, ABOUT HOW INHERENT ETHNIC AND CULTURAL GROUPS’ IDENTITY ASPECTS (E.G.: THE WAY HOW ASPECTS SUCH AS SOLIDARITY, SISTERHOOD, FAMILY, OR COMMUNITY, TO MENTION SOME, ARE UNDERSTOOD) PERMEATES HOW FRIENDSHIP AMONG IMMIGRANT AND ETHNIC MINORITY WOMEN ARE BUILT, AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON SOCIAL INTEGRATION. STRADLING AMID THESE NOT YET CONNECTED BODIES OF LITERATURE, #FRIENDSMATTER IS AIMED AT EXAMINING WHAT TYPE OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS SHAPE FRIENDSHIPS OF IMMIGRANT AND ETHNIC MINORITY WOMEN (HEREINAFTER, IEMW) IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD (HEREINAFTER, EA), AND IN WHICH SPECIFIC WAYS -IF ANY- THIS MIGHT EQUIP THEM WILL SKILLS AND STRATEGIES TO BETTER NAVIGATE SOCIAL INTEGRATION PROCESSES IN THE HOST SOCIETY. EVENTUALLY, THIS WILL SHED LIGHT ON THOSE SPECIFIC ASPECTS THAT UNDERLIE FRIENDSHIP NETWORKS OF IEMW, AND THE WAY HOW THIS EITHER FAVORS OR PREVENTS THEIR SOCIAL INTEGRATION PROCESS. DESIGNED AS A 36 MONTH LONG QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, THIS INVESTIGATION WILL BE DEVELOPED THROUGH FIVE INTER-LINKED STUDIES WHICH WILL IMPLEMENT CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH TECHNIQUES FROM SOCIAL SCIENCES, AND COMMUNICATIONS IN COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, NAMELY, COMMUNICATIVE FOCUS GROUPS, ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA SITES, REVISION OF CULTURAL REPERTOIRES, AND LONGITUDINAL NARRATIVE INTERVIEWING. #FRIENDSMATTER WILL ELABORATE EVIDENCE-BASED RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WILL INFORM POLICYMAKERS AND/OR STAKEHOLDERS AT THE TIME OF DESIGNING INTERCULTURAL INTEGRATION STRATEGIES. THE PROJECT WILL ADVANCE SOLID EVIDENCE IN THE FIELD OF WOMEN STUDIES, ETHNIC STUDIES, AND COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION STUDIES, CHALLENGING STEREOTYPED WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING IMMIGRANT AND ETHNIC MINORITY BACKGROUNDS AT THE LIGHT OF WOMEN’ SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND INTEGRATION PROCESSES. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO UNVEIL HOW IEMW ARE ALREADY CONTRIBUTING TO CONTEST UNEQUAL GENDER RELATIONS THROUGH DAILY PRACTICES CRAFTED AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL.