Isabela Alvarado’s senior thesis “Careers in Translation: Occupational Downgrading and Identity Reconstruction Among Venezuelan Immigrants in the United States” was selected to receive the 2025 Mildred Priest Frank Memorial Prize. Isabela’s thesis explores how occupational downgrading affects the sense of self, identity, and future orientation of professional Venezuelan immigrants living and working in the United States. Occupational downgrading refers to the process by which a person comes to work in a job significantly below their previous level of professional status due to unrecognized credentials, language barriers, or systemic labor market exclusions. Drawing on fifteen semi-structured interviews with individuals from diverse fields (e.g., law, education, and engineering) this qualitative study uncovers the emotional and professional toll of displacements in conversation with migrant identity and adaptation frameworks. Findings reveal that experiences of downgrading are shaped by material circumstances upon arrival, life stage, access to networks, and family responsibilities. These factors influence how migrants adapt and reframe their trajectories, constructing new visions of success and even of the future. While many face systemic barriers and a loss of professional identity, others find purpose in resilience, reinvention, and representing Venezuela with dignity abroad. This work adds to sociological understandings of migration, labor, and identity reconstruction amid the turmoils of forced displacement.
The Mildred Priest Frank Memorial Prize was established by Adam R. Rose, ’81, in honor of his maternal grandmother. It is awarded each year to the graduating senior whose work in the Department of Sociology reflects the standards of excellence and love of people that characterize Mildred Priest Frank.