Skills That Contribute to the Successful Leadership of Hispanic Immigrants in the United States: A Case Study

By Dr. Carmen Soraya Jolley

The percentage of Hispanics in the American workforce had doubled by the early 2000s (Huntington, 2004). Most legal Hispanic immigrants who are admitted on a yearly basis do not have the skills needed to become leaders (Sirkin & McDermont, 2001). The findings of the proposed qualitative descriptive study provided insight into the gap in the literature regarding the skills needed to become Hispanic leaders. Specific questions focused on factors that influenced the participants in this case study to become leaders. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to identify and describe the skills that contribute to the successful leadership of Hispanic immigrants. A disproportionate number of recent Hispanic immigrants arriving in the United States are not skilled and have not had the opportunity of becoming successful leaders (Huntington, 2004)

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452065304

Dr. Carmen Soraya Jolley

The author was born in Venezuela. She is the oldest of four kids, three sisters and a brother. Her parents wanted their four kids to obtain college degrees in the United States. The Jolley’s family fulfilled their dreams by sending their four children to study abroad. Dr. Jolley was the oldest of the four so she was the first member of the family who, as all immigrants, went through painful culture shock. She needed to adjust to an unfamiliar culture and a new language to achieve her educational goals. The cultural and language barriers did not stop her from fulfilling her parents’ dreams. The first school Dr. Jolley enrolled was the University of Texas at Austin, Texas where she attended English as a second language classes (ESL). After completing her ESL program, Dr. Jolley enrolled at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Later, she transferred to the University Of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, a Master’s Degree in Information Systems. In 2008, she obtained a Doctorate of Organizational Management.  Dr. Jolley decided to conduct a case study for her dissertation that would provide an insight of the skills that she observed were needed for  new Hispanic comers or Hispanic immigrants of 1st or 2nd  generations to become successful leaders in the United States. Dr. Jolley lives in El Paso, Texas. She is married and she has three kids.  

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and describe the skills that contribute to the successful leadership of Hispanic immigrants. The percentage of Hispanics in the American workforce was high; by the early 2000s, this percentage had doubled (Huntington, 2004). A disproportionate number of recent Hispanic immigrants arriving in the United States are not skilled and have not had the opportunity of becoming successful leaders (Huntington, 2004). Most legal Hispanic immigrants who are admitted on a yearly basis do not have the skills needed to become leaders (Sirkin & McDermont, 2001). A study was needed to provide insight into an area in which research was needed about the skills that contribute to the success leadership of Hispanic immigrants in the United States (Hispanic Challenge, 2004). The findings of the proposed descriptive study provided insight into the gap in the literature regarding the skills needed to become Hispanic leaders. Specific questions focused on factors that influenced twenty participants to become leaders. Participants were Hispanic leaders who held leadership roles from various industries. The data collected from the face-to-face interviews with the participants was used to identify fourteen key factors that may contributed to the leadership success of the participants (a) education, (b) mentoring, (c) goals, (d) social skills, (e) communication, (f) leadership, (g) challenges, (h) culture, (i) opportunity, (j) being successful, (k) networking, (l) motivation,(m) barriers, and (n) determination.

DEDICATION

My doctoral journey was filled with loving and truly support of my family. This dissertation is dedicated to my husband , Michael, who cooked many meals and spent many days and nights with the children while I focused my attention toward the completion of the rewarding venture. To my children: Ihsan, Sasha and Abraham. During my journey, Sasha and Abraham, the two youngest of the three children inspired in me the need to run to the finishing line. To my brother, William and sisters, Rhayza and Marlene, who encouraged me to be patience and strong to overcome the journey obstacles. To my mother, Carmen de Jolley, retired Attorney and to my beloved father, Dr. Guillermo Jolley, PhD. My parents entered the heavenly garden of eternity before the publication of my dissertation. During the times of sorrow, his spirit gave me the fortitude to continue my journey. My parents served as role models and their unconditional love taught me to be strong and never give up to aspire to the top. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to the future Hispanic immigrants and their generations. I hope this study may, in some way, serve as an educational tool that provides an insight to their leadership roles.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank the people who provided the academic support, patience and assistance needed during my dissertation journey. To my dissertation chair who provided me with the tools with which to explore both past and present ideas to the completion of the dissertation. I was guided, supported and encouraged by my mentor from the beginning with confidence in my abilities. I found his assistance to be stimulating and thoughtful. To the Doctoral committee members, whose gentle but firm guidance has been most appreciated .Their academic coaching guided me to complete not only a Doctoral degree but to complete it with distinguish success. I express my gratitude to the Doctoral Program Chair, whose guidance was predominantly of great assistance in explaining and guiding me toward understanding data saturation. To my academic advisor, who from the beginning had confidence in my qualities and kept me looking toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, I wish to thank and acknowledge my family whose never-ending love and dedicated support broke the mold of journey’s adversity. Again, I extend my appreciation to those who have been the wind beneath my wings.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

CHAPTER 3: METHOD

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

APPENDIX A: INFORMED

CONSENT FORM

APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

APPENDIX D: SURVEY INSTRUMENT

APPENDIX E: OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

APPENDIX F: COLLECTIVE SUMMARY OF PARTICIPANTS

APPENDIX G: COLLECTIVE NUMBER OF CODES GENERATED FROM INTERVIEWS

APPENDIX H: LIST OF FACTORS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Legal immigration promotes diversity among American companies, not only in the workplace but also in the marketplace, along the supply chain, in distribution channels for organizations’ products and services, and in local communities where organization operate (Riordan & Shore, 2001). According to Riordan and Shore, diversity in people has been demonstrated to contribute to organizational revival and success as well as geographic and business diversification. The United States symbolize freedom for immigrants because of democracy, respect, encouragement of cultural diversity, and flexible labor markets (Wolfe, 2006).

There has been a rapid increase of Hispanic immigration to the United States in recent decades (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001a). For the purpose of the study, Hispanic means a person born in the United States who is of Latin American or Spanish descent (Padilla, 2003). Hispanic immigrants are the most rapidly growing group in the country (Wolfe, 2006). Since 1999, the number of legal immigrants who are seeking leadership roles has increased in (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001a).

Immigrants’ rising leadership expectations create leadership challenges on unprecedented scales and levels of complexity (Wolfe, 2006). At the beginning of the 21st century, immigration is an important topic. In American history, there have always been contentious debates over immigration policy; immigration is the issue that has never gone away and will never go away (Wolfe, 2006, p. 30). Hispanic immigrants must understand the importance of developing skills that contribute the society as well as to their success as leaders.

The proposed study examined the skills that contribute to successful leadership for Hispanic immigrants in the United States. The developed skills of successful Hispanic leaders informed the study. Leaders’ professional experiences and current leadership roles were reviewed against the backdrop of the rising, and sometimes conflicting, expectations of the American professional community. The purpose of the study was to analyzed the developed leadership skills of Hispanic leaders from the communities of El Paso, Texas, and identified the skill sets that contributed to the success of these leaders.

The results revealed innovative approaches that would be useful in developing the leadership skills of the coming generation of Hispanic immigrants. The study focused exclusively on the period around the millennium when legal Hispanic immigration boomed and partnerships between organizations developed within the country and across national borders. The goal of the study was to obtain information about the education, culture, and initiatives of the leaders from the community of El Paso, Texas taking into account the leaders’ previous skills and knowledge transfer.

With regard to how culture defines nations, Wolfe (2006) suggested, [culture is] the language they speak, the literature and music they produce, the history they share, and the monuments they treasure. Yet while there clearly is such a thing as American culture, this country, because it refashions its identity so frequently, does not attach its identity to its culture to the extent that most other nations do. (p. 30)

Zolberg (2004) referred to culture as a capacity to adapt to a culture when we welcomed immigrants from quite different cultures with enthusiasm (as cited in Wolfe, 2006, p. 30). Although Hispanics represent numerous cultures, there is a common Latin American culture in which social relationships and close family ties are of significant value (Lozano, 2002). In the proposed study, these relationships were examined from the perspectives of Hispanic participants and in the context of the development of their skills and their success as leaders.

Background of the Problem

The term Hispanic is used to describe people in the United States who are of Latin American or Spanish descent or have migrated from countries in which the Spanish language is spoken (see Figure 1). Hispanics constitute a diverse population that grew by more than 50% between 1975 and 1980 and had increased 27% by 1990. According to a March 2000 population survey, 32.8 million Hispanics lived in the United States (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001a). This group constituted more than 12% of the American population at the end of the 20th century and is projected to grow to nearly a quarter of the population by the middle of the 21st century.

Hispanics have settled throughout the United States, but they are highly concentrated in cities of the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California as well as in the Midwest and on the east coast. Since the 1960s, over 7 million have legally immigrated to the United States, and the majority have entered the U.S. since 1975. In the marketplace, Hispanics are over-represented in blue-collar, service, and seasonal jobs.

Figure 1. Racial composition of the U.S. population for March 2000.

Note: From Current Population Reports: Population Projections of the United States by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 2000 to 2050, by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Copyright 2000, Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration.

Many Hispanics have lower educational levels than the general population. Better paying and leadership jobs are often out of reach although Hispanics who attend college seem to have positions and earnings similar to college educated individuals in other groups (Lozano, 2002). As shown in Figure 2, the current population survey of the year 2000 indicates that only 9.5% of the Hispanic population with a full-time job had a round yearly earning of $50,000 or more in 1999. Figure 2 illustrates that 27.4% of non-Hispanic whites have a round earning of $50,000