Class Borders: Chinese and South Asian Canadian Professional Women Navigating the Labor Market

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the results of a study aimed at exploring how highly skilled professional immigrant women from China and India, two of the top source countries of immigration to Canada since 1998, learned to reorient and reshape their skills, experiences, and aspirations in order to secure employment. Drawing on Bourdieu's notion of class as relational space, his differentiation of forms of capital and his concept of habitus, we explore ways in which these women mobilize the resources they have at their disposal transnationally in order to realign their class position in Canada. Issues of gender and race are also incorporated into the discussion of class.

Longitudinal and spatial perspectives on the mismatch of tertiary educated migrant workers in the Czech labour market: The case of Ukrainians

“…For the purposes of this article, the term can -in a simplified way -be defined as a state in which an individual possesses a higher level of education than is required by their job position, or requirements connected with acquiring a new job (Koutná, 2016;Green and Zhu, 2010). On the basis of a literature review, it seems that overqualification, discrimination, and inequality have become inseparable parts of immigrants' working activities in the labour markets of many destination countries (see the examples in: Chiswick and Miller, 2009;Aleksynska and Tritah, 2013;Spoonley, 2006;Nowotny, 2016;McDonald and Valenzuela, 2016;Garrido and Codóc, 2017;Gupta and Man, 2014;Lagana, 2011;Man, 2004;Spielvogel and Meghnagi, 2018). Though many factors may be behind this situation, Ho and Alcorso (2004) and others (e.g.…”

“…Moreover, access to local nonmigratory social networks has been highlighted (Aure, 2013), including the function of social networks (Cerna, 2016;Webb, 2015;Plöger and Becker, 2015;Chort, 2017;Munshi, 2003). Recently, more attention is being devoted to the over-qualification mismatch in the labour market and its specificities in relation to gender (Bender and Roche, 2013;Arbeit and Warren, 2013;Aure, 2013;Raghuram and Kofman, 2004;Webb, 2015;Gupta and Man, 2014;Pecoraro, 2011;Man, 2004).…”

Theorising decolonisation in the context of lifelong learning and transnational migration: anti-colonial and anti-racist perspectives

“…This denial of the diversity of knowledge, skill acquisition, professional experiences and practices of particularly racialised immigrants produces the 'West' as hegemonic knowledge and other, non-western epistemologies, learning and worldviews as 'inferior', 'backward' and therefore in need of intervention (Abdi, 2005;Santos, Nunes, & Meneses, 2007). Anything different from the western norm is seen as deficient; knowledge is racialised so that it is the education and skills brought by immigrants of colour that is considered 'inferior' and 'incompatible' compared to western qualifications and credentials (Das Gupta et al, 2014;Guo, 2009;Maitra, 2013Maitra, , 2015aMaitra, , 2015b.…”

The making of transnational social space: Chinese women managing careers and lives between China and Canada

“…Earlier studies of immigrant women have mainly focused on women’s experiences in low-end occupational sectors, such as sewing, care, entertainment and services (Hochschild, 2000; Ng, 2001; Sassen, 2004). More recently, the literature has witnessed an emerging body of research on skilled migrant women (Gupta et al., 2014; Leung, 2014; Pio and Essers, 2014; Roos, 2013; Shan, 2009a, 2009b) and a consideration of women as members of skilled dual-earner and entrepreneurial families (Ghosh, 2014; Salaff and Greve, 2003; Shinozaki, 2014). Related studies have pinpointed that as migrant women move across diverse geopolitical and economic regimes, they may become more capable of “integrating diverse desires, motivations and obligations by (re)configuring concepts, practices and relationships across time and space” (Calás et al., 2013: 725).…”

“…Related studies have pinpointed that as migrant women move across diverse geopolitical and economic regimes, they may become more capable of “integrating diverse desires, motivations and obligations by (re)configuring concepts, practices and relationships across time and space” (Calás et al., 2013: 725). For instance, in Gupta et al.’s (2014) life history study, Chinese and Indian women are shown to face occupational and social inequalities upon landing in Canada, which, according to the authors, led them to reassess their class positioning. To maintain their social standing, the women reportedly avoided “menial” work, managed their expectations, crafted optimistic outlooks, and leveraged education, qualifications and technical knowledge.…”