Formatted Final Draft_8.27.14

313 Pages·2014·2.15 MB·English

by  Aryn Baxter

The Burden of Privilege:
Navigating Transnational Space and Migration Dilemmas among Rwandan Scholarship
Students in the U.S.

A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
BY

Aryn Raye Baxter

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Dr. Frances K. Vavrus, Advisor

August 2014
© Aryn Baxter 2014
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am exceedingly grateful for the support and encouragement from family,
friends, and colleagues that have carried me through to the end of this doctoral journey.
First and foremost, I thank my parents for their grounding presence in my life, their
never-ending willingness to listen and offer their wisdom in moments of joy and
discouragement, and their unwavering confidence in my ability to complete this project. I
also thank my brothers and my nephew—Kyle, Jared, and Aidan—for their good
company in Minneapolis and for allowing their home to be a point of stability (and
storage) as I have moved around the U.S. and East Africa over the past several years.
Many old friends have accompanied me on this journey and new friendships have
developed along the way. I cannot adequately express my appreciation for this network of
supportive friends, nor can I name all those around the world whom I am grateful to
count among them. Some deserve special mention. Thanks to Melissa, an old friend and
kindred spirit, for being such an exceptional support from a distance. Thanks to Marta for
bridging my grad school and non-grad school worlds and for being such a great traveling
companion. I am grateful that David introduced us on my first day back in Wulling Hall
after returning from two years in Rwanda. Thanks to Rebecca and Kigali for hosting me
during my research and showing me their favorite places. Thanks to the marvelous
Millers for their hospitality and help transitioning from working abroad back to life and
graduate studies in Minnesota. Thanks to Matthew for his academic and life counseling
and for urging me on toward this finish line. Thanks to Beth for her jovial spirit and the
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many hours of writing and conversing together. Thanks to Anne for getting as
enthusiastic about scholarship program research as I do and sharing countless articles.
Thanks to my entire CIDE cohort for all the invaluable feedback provided at various
stages of this work. Thanks to my kickball and broomball team, the Bloody Noses, for
providing lots of comic relief and a little exercise and to the Jackets, my beloved
practicing band, which also helped keep me sane. Thanks to Joetta and other friends at
Faith Mennonite Church for being a sustaining community, and for the other churches
that have served as important sources of connection and support during my travels.
Thanks to Laura and Kyle for welcoming me to Arizona and making sure that I got away
from writing and out into the mountains every once in a while. Thanks to Tim for
connecting at CIES and for offering much needed encouragement during the final writing
push. Thanks to Marissa for giving the gift of editing. Thanks to the many other friends in
across the U.S., Rwanda, and beyond who welcome me as I come and go. It’s amazing to
reflect on this web of relationships: true abundance.
The supportive relationships I have developed with my professors at the
University of Minnesota while pursuing first a MA and then a PhD in the College of
Education and Human Development are also numerous and exceptional. I have learned so
much both in and out of the classroom throughout my graduate school experience. In
particular, I have appreciated the opportunity to collaborate closely with Dr. David
Chapman and Dr. Joan DeJaeghere on work that, like my own, seeks to inform the design
of education development programs. I have also benefited greatly from taking classes
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with Dr. Peter Demerath and Dr. Andy Furco that have enhanced my understanding and
practice of community-engaged scholarship.
Just prior to completing my MA at the University of Minnesota in 2008, I went to
hear Dr. Frances Vavrus, a candidate for a position in my department, present on her
research. As I looked into her work further, I was captivated by her capacity for critical
analysis and her commitment to working consistently in a particular place over the long-
term. This resonated with my own desire not just to bounce from project to project but
instead to build long-term relationships, in-depth understanding, and meaningful
exchange. It was in large part due to the closing lines of Desire and Decline, a book
based on her dissertation research, that I determined I would like to return to the
University of Minnesota for a doctorate. Reflecting on the challenges of working toward
social change, she writes:
A lifetime of learning about and working on [problems that are vast, complex, and
intractable] just might begin to make a difference. Perhaps that is the most useful
course: to forget the search for a panacea and to settle in for the long haul. (2003,
p. 150)
This dissertation has been a long haul, and I could not have asked for better mentorship
throughout the process. I am grateful for an adviser who has so gracefully balanced
affirmation and critique, structure and flexibility, reflection and action. Thank you, Fran,
for helping me chart my own scholarly course. I look forward to a lifetime of continued
learning about and work on the challenges that you have helped me and so many others
understand more deeply.
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In an unexpected turn of events, I wrote much of this dissertation while directing
an undergraduate scholarship program for students from Sub-Saharan African countries
at Arizona State University. Accepting a full time position prior to completing my
dissertation made me—and I imagine my committee members—somewhat nervous. I am
grateful to Jacqueline and The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program team at ASU—
Kevin, Jenn, and Seabrook—for making it possible for me to adjust to my new position
while maintaining progress toward the end of my doctorate. Thank you for your gracious
accommodation during the final phase. I am amazed that this project was completed
during my first nine months in a new role and could have not done it without you.
Finally, I thank the Rwandan government officials and U.S. program
administrators who granted me permission to carry out this research as well as the higher
education faculty and staff, community members, and Rwandan Presidential Scholars
who made this study possible by participating in the research. Thank you for your
hospitality, your willingness to accommodate a researcher’s gaze, your generous gifts of
time, and your commitment to working toward a bright future for Rwandans.
The MasterCard Foundation Scholars I now work with at Arizona State
University have also played an important role in inspiring me throughout this writing
process and affirming that the relevance of this work goes beyond the Rwanda
Presidential Scholars Program. I conclude these acknowledgements with a mantra that
these students recount often to each other: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to
go far, go together. To all those who have helped reach this point and made the journey a
pleasant one: You are appreciated beyond words. Thank you.
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DEDICATION

To Aidan, a constant source of joy and perspective.

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ABSTRACT
This dissertation is an ethnography of the transnational education space inhabited
by higher education scholarship recipients from Rwanda pursuing undergraduate degrees
in the United States. It examines how this space is produced through the representational
practices of actors in the U.S. and Rwanda and, in turn, constitutes the relationships,
dilemmas, transformations, and representations that occur within these spaces.
Employing a transnational lens, the study describes a space of opportunity as well as
tension between contrasting narratives of change, national and familial priorities, and the
“magical” expectations of various actors that contrast with students’ lived experiences of
undergraduate education in the U.S. Most centrally, it argues that navigating the diverse
expectations associated with a U.S. education is a significant yet under-addressed
challenge faced by scholarship students from low-income and post-conflict contexts.
Understanding this burden—the burden of privilege—is its primary focus.
The study demonstrates that spatial analysis offers a promising approach for
illuminating the experiences of internationally mobile students and for informing the
design and implementation of international higher education scholarship programs. It
concludes that scholarship students would benefit from program designs that create space
for open dialogue about the migration dilemmas that accompany international mobility,
particularly those related to the weighty expectations of family and nation for those
privileged to have received scholarships to study in the U.S. This is particularly crucial
for programs involving youth from low-income and post-conflict contexts—a group for
whom the burden of such a privilege is particularly pronounced.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. i
DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... v
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... xii
PREFACE: A POEM AND A TRIBUTE .......................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF TRANSIATIONAL EDUCATION SPACE . 12
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 12
The Rwanda Presidential Scholars Program ................................................................. 14
Rationales ...................................................................................................................... 18
Theorizing mobility .................................................................................................. 19
International scholarships for change ....................................................................... 20
A ‘diaspora of hope’ ................................................................................................. 22
Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 23
Overview of the Dissertation ........................................................................................ 24
CHAPTER: RE-CONCEPTUALIZING INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION SPACES:
A TRANSNATIONAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................... 29
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 29
Theoretical Underpinnings: Spatial Theories of Education .......................................... 30
Transnationalism as a Conceptual Tool ........................................................................ 34
Transnationalism and International Student Research .................................................. 36
The Possibilities of Transnational Education Space ..................................................... 38
Spatial differentiation and changing spatialities ....................................................... 39
Multiple and dynamic identities ................................................................................ 42
Social embeddedness ................................................................................................ 43
Space as a product of objective and subjective forces .............................................. 44
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 48
CHAPTER 3: SETTING THE SCENE: RESEARCH APPROACH, CONTEXT, AND
CHALLENGES ................................................................................................................ 50
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 50
Multi-sited Ethnography ............................................................................................... 51
Multiple Sites: Geographical Locations and Social Fields ........................................... 51
Rwanda: A Field of Contested Representations ........................................................... 52
Rwanda’s development vision .................................................................................. 53
Representations of Rwanda and Rwandans .............................................................. 56
Research challenges in Rwanda ................................................................................ 61

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Geographic Sites ........................................................................................................... 62
Liberal ....................................................................................................................... 63
Metro ......................................................................................................................... 64
Transnational ties ...................................................................................................... 66
Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................. 70
Fieldwork Methods ....................................................................................................... 74
Data Analysis Methods ................................................................................................. 78
Credibility ..................................................................................................................... 82
Limitations .................................................................................................................... 82
The “Burden of Authorship” ......................................................................................... 86
CHAPTER 4: REPRESENTATIONS OF SPACE: THE MULTIPLE MEANINGS OF
A U.S. EDUCATION ....................................................................................................... 90
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 90
First Encounters ............................................................................................................ 92
Entering the field ....................................................................................................... 93
Reconsider your medical school dreams ................................................................... 96
Work together to transform Rwanda through a quiet, educated change ................... 99
Develop Rwanda’s private sector as multi-cultural Rwandans .............................. 107
Perceived Expectations ............................................................................................... 116
“Avuye States” [Coming from the States] .................................................................. 116
National Expectations ................................................................................................. 119
Community Expectations ............................................................................................ 124
Family Expectations .................................................................................................... 127
Failure is not an option ............................................................................................... 129
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 131
CHAPTER5: SPACES OF REPRESENTATION: REPRESENTATIONS OF
RWANDA AND RWANDANS IN THE U.S. ............................................................... 134
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 134
“Best and brightest” .................................................................................................... 135
Cultural Candyland ................................................................................................. 139
“I’m Saudi, but I don’t do Saudi dance.” ................................................................ 145
Culture in the classroom ......................................................................................... 149
Introduction to Psychology ..................................................................................... 152
History of the Great Lakes Region ......................................................................... 155
Concerning Representations of Rwandan Youth ........................................................ 162
CHAPTER 6 ................................................................................................................... 170
LIVED SPACE: THE EVERYDAY LIVES AND REIMAGINED FUTURES OF
RWANDAN SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS .................................................................. 170
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 170
Transformation ............................................................................................................ 171
Imagining America ................................................................................................. 171
Encountering America ............................................................................................ 174
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