Writer Joanita Wibowo has published a thoughtful profile on three second-generation migrant-Australian women, featuring this quote from Sabina, a Lenanese-Muslim Australian:
“She went on to study sociology at university, which turned out to be ‘a really empowering experience’ for her. Sociological theories and language, she says, helped her understand her ordeals. ‘My trajectory as an academic was influenced very much by the experiences of how I’m feeling like an outsider as a child,’ says Sabina. ‘The only thing that gave me control over those experiences was being able to explain them.’ (Source: Junkee)
Sociology also gave me the tools to understand my ‘otherness,’ and advocate for migrant women and other marganised people who are made to feel like outsiders and denied social justice.
Ever since I could speak, before I even learned to write properly, I remember clearly wanting to be a story-teller. I went to university thinking I would pursue literature, but I found I did not enjoy the course. Instead I followed my early love of social studies. I enrolled in sociology in my first semester of university in 1997. This was supposed to be an elective. Two decades later, here I am: a passionate sociologist.
I would eventually go on to write both my Honours and PhD theses on themes of multiculturalism, racism, and social inclusion. I studied how young migrant-Australian women managed their identities, gender inequality, and other issues such as sexuality and culture.
Read more about the migrant women teachers and stories that inspired my education on my post, Heroic Women Who Inspired my Social Science.
The Other Sociologist 