Doctoral Dissertation Research: Spatial Assimilation or Residential Segregation? A Comparative Study of Racial and Ethnic Minority Residential Patterns in Ireland and the U.S.

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Mary Waters Zoua VangHarvard University This Doctoral Dissertation Improvement research compares the residential patterns of African immigrants in the United States and the Republic of Ireland and the ways in which racial residential segregation (or lack thereof) impacts the life chances and well being of blacks in these two countries. The co-PI will use a mix-method approach that utilizes traditional segregation indices derived from U.S. and Irish Census data, GIS mapping technology, as well as in-depth interviews with African immigrants in the Boston and Dublin metropolitan areas. In the case of Dublin, Irish and Eastern European immigrant control groups are included. The study extends existing literature and theories of racial residential segregation. In particular, in assessing the centrality of 'race' in the residential segregation process, the study will elucidate conditions and contexts under which residential segregation does or does not occur. Given the close associations between race, place of residence, and socioeconomic disadvantage in the United States, this comparative study examining these same conditions, but with variation in the race factor, promises to yield insights that may shed light on ways in which residential segregation and its negative effects can be ameliorated. Through a cross-national comparison of racial residential segregation, the study contributes to the larger fields of immigration, residential segregation, neighborhood effects, urban poverty, and race and ethnic relations.Broader Impacts. The study has potential broader impacts in three specific areas. First, the study integrates research activities with teaching through the participation of undergraduates as research assistants (RAs). Undergraduate RAs will assist in the recruitment of participants in Dublin. RAs will also be trained in qualitative interviewing techniques and given opportunities to observe interviews. Special efforts will be geared towards hiring and training undergraduate RAs from the African and Eastern European immigrant communities. Second, the study will be part of a continuing international institutional collaboration between Harvard University and the Geary Institute, University College Dublin. The Co-PI has been granted visiting researcher status at Geary for the duration of the fieldwork in Ireland. Finally, Geary researchers and the Co-PI plan to disseminate research results to the Irish community (including government officials and organizations working with immigrant populations) through a series of conferences, workshops and press releases. Similar endeavors will be made to disseminate findings from the study for a U.S. audience.