NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Stephen F. Austin State University's Dr. Roslyn Fraser will spend 10 months in Port Louis, Mauritius to teach and work on her research after being named a Fulbright Scholar.
According to SFA's press release, the Fulbright Program, the United States government’s flagship program for international educational and cultural exchange, selects university faculty members and professionals to conduct research, teach and produce artistic and professional projects in other countries in an effort to find solutions to challenges facing our world.
According to the Fulbright Scholars Program website, the last SFA faculty to be named a Fulbright scholar was in 2016.
“It is an honor to be selected to travel to another part of the world to represent our university, our country and the discipline of sociology,” Fraser said. “That level of recognition has real weight to it. It feels like being told ‘You’re doing good things. Keep it up.’”
Fraser will continue her research of women’s international labor migration through a study of Bangladeshi women working in the Mauritian garment sector. Fraser has previously had research studies in Bangladesh, focusing on women’s work and family dynamics as people emigrate abroad for work.
This program will allow her to see the other side of workers’ experiences by traveling to a country where Bangladeshi workers are going as labor migrants.
“I first became interested in Mauritius after looking at some migration data out of Bangladesh,” Fraser said. “I noticed large waves of women migrating there for industrial jobs in clothing factories.”
Fraser thought the program was only obtainable for Ivy League faculty but credits a few female faculty mentors she’s worked with for changing her perception of the Fulbright Program’s accessibility.
“I remember clearly a philosophy professor who took the time to sit down and explain the Fulbright to me and how the application worked,” Fraser said. “She made it feel attainable, despite how much work it would be. By the end of the conversation, I thought, ‘Oh! I can probably do this. Why not!’ If not for people like her and my other mentors, my life would look very different today.”
According to the Fulbright Scholar Program’s website, the program was established by Congress in 1946 to increase mutual understanding and support friendly and peaceful relations between people of the U.S. and those from other countries.