December 13, 2016
Responses to Topics in Jobs and Employment in Rural Communities
More from a mixed methods study in nine counties of Southwest Kansas, reaching 901 individuals, we continue with qualitative analysis. Our quantitative analysis is much more expansive (751 survey respondents), so those reports will come later. Again, in examining the transcriptions of the qualitative interviews and focus groups, many common themes emerge of critical importance to the populations of record. Next to the importance of education (we will discuss that next time) for the study sample, jobs and employment, in general, were passionate subjects. Of noted observation, jobs and family safety were the number one reasons people emigrated from their home countries to settle in Kansas, indeed, the whole of the United States. A total of 150 participated in face-to-face interviews and focus groups. There is much to share with human service agencies, but my goal here is to give you a peek at our initial findings.
“What are the most important topics [to you] around jobs and employment in your community?” The following are some of the responses that we are analyzing:
“I came to the U. S. from Eritrea 10 Years ago. I was in California and then in different parts of Kansas. I have been in Garden City for 5 years. As a group, we are trying to make the best world for ourselves. Mostly we know war and refugee camps, so it's nice to have an apartment. I hope to return to California one day, but I will never return to my country. Tyson is very hard work, and I hope to get used to it. I look for other opportunities.”
“We are refugees from Eritrea (a country just north of Ethiopia). We fled our country because of war. We left Eritrea in 2011. We traveled to Sudan, then to Libya, then to Malta. We lived in refugee camp until we were able to come to U.S. We came to Wichita, which is very large. My husband is very ill, and he still resides in Wichita. My daughter and I came to Garden City to find a job and school for our child. Life would be better if we [family] could all be together. There are about 16 of us who came from Wichita. We support one another for the most part. We have never worked in a job like Tyson. It's very hard. Working from 2:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. makes it very hard to find child care for those hours.”
“We came here for the work. I don’t think we had a sponsor or anything, but we had heard that there were jobs in Kansas, so we came here. It’s been an adjustment, because life in a refugee camp is very different. There are about 35 families here that I know of. That is, families who are from the Karen-speaking group. There are others, but I work with those who speak Karen [a Burmese dialect].”
“I would like my parents to have easier jobs. I know that their limited education is a barrier as well as not speaking English well. There is no time for my parents to take English classes, because of their schedules at [omitted].”
“My husband works at [omitted], but he never gets enough hours to receive benefits. I know many [omitted] employees who have to have medical cards. They make too much for medical cards, but don't get enough for benefits, like insurance or retirement from the company.”
Some of the common themes of respondents from underrepresented audiences include stories about long hours, low pay, no insurance or other benefits offered because of limited hours, no opportunities for overtime (other than working an additional full shift, which would equal 18 straight hours on an already dangerous job), and lack of access to authorization documents.
Even with the challenges, respondents overwhelmingly voiced much gratefulness to having jobs. When asked about ways to improve work life, the answer resounded: “We need opportunities for job advancement, job training, professional development, and educational development and opportunities.” Where do those opportunities exist? What is the role of informal education in these situations? Where does Extension fit in?
One of my initial ideas was to look to Family and Consumer Sciences’ Essential Living Skills, a series of published lessons and fact sheets that address life’s basic skills for health and well-being. Sheryl Carson and Bertha Mendoza authored publication number S134A, Essential Living Skills: Job-Ready Skills. The lesson facilitates job –skill development through goal-setting exercises, job-skill assessment, resume writing and application protocols. It also helps the participant develop tools for handling a variety of job situations. Our agents have a variety of skills that can be shared with underrepresented audiences that aid in community integration.