Doctoral Dissertation Research: Immigrants and the New York City Garment Industry

9400710 Gans This is an award under the Grants for Improving Doctoral Dissertation Research Program. It is a study of women immigrants and the New York City garment industry, employing comparative research on two types of sewing shops: those of the Chinese who hire co-ethnics and those of the Koreans who hire Latinos. This will make possible generalizations about the broader categories of race, ethnicity, and gender, and how these categories relate to the larger economic structure of the New York City economy. Participant observation and interviews will be conducted to understand how different immigrants gain jobs, why particular groups have access to certain jobs, and how ethnicity may or may not be used as a resource. %%% This research will contribute to the sociology of immigration, of ethnic groups, and of urban careers. It addresses sociological theories of racial-economic adaptation, that are based on concepts of economic restructuring, social networks, and ethnic succession. In addition to the scientific gains to be achieved by the research, this award will materially assist a highly promising student in completing research for the Ph.D. dissertation. Thus it contributes to the future scientific manpower of the nation and the thorough training of the next generation of social scientists. ***