Contested imaginaries: workfinding information practices of STEM-trained immigrant women in Canada

Abstract

PurposeThis pan-Canadian study examines the information practices of STEM-trained immigrant women to Canada as they navigate workfinding and workplace integration. Our study focuses on a population of highly skilled immigrant women from across Canada and uses an information practice lens to examine their lived experiences of migration and labour market integration. As highly trained STEM professionals in pursuit of employment, our participants have specific needs and challenges, and as we explore these, we consider the intersection of their information practices with government policies, settlement services and the hiring practices of STEM employers.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 74 immigrant women across 13 Canadian provinces and territories to understand the nature of their engagement with employment-seeking in STEM sectors. This article reports the findings related to the settlement and information experiences of the immigrant women as they navigate new information landscapes.FindingsAs immigrants, as women and as STEM professionals, the experiences of the 74 participants reflect both marginality and privilege. The reality of their intersectional identities is that these women may not be well-served by broader settlement resources targeting newcomers, but neither are the specific conventions of networking and job-seeking in the STEM sectors in Canada fully apparent or accessible to them. The findings also point to the broader systemic and contextual factors that participants have to navigate and that shape in a major way their workfinding journeys.Originality/valueThe findings of this pan-Canadian study have theoretical and practical implications for policy and research. Through interviews with these STEM professionals, we highlight the barriers and challenges of an under-studied category of migrants (the highly skilled and “desirable” type of immigrants). We provide a critical discussion of their settlement experiences and expose the idiosyncrasies of a system that claims to value skilled talent while structurally making it very difficult to deliver on its promises to recruit and retain highly qualified personnel. Our findings point to specific aspects of these skilled professionals’ experiences, as well as the broader systemic and contextual factors that shape their workfinding journey.

“So, We Decided to Make a Film”

“…From an information studies perspective, the two-year study pays attention to how the women accessed information about immigration and job prospects and problem-solved their way through the upheaval of starting new personal and professional lives in Canada. Caidi et al (2024) report the findings of the two-year study that revealed "challenges associated with employment-seeking and workplace integration for STEM-trained women" (p. 14 of 23). In this article, however, we focus on making the animated film "We Were Here All Along: Canada's Failed Promise to Immigrant Women in STEM," which resulted from the research findings of the two-year study.…”