Paths into the economy: structural barriers and the job hunt for skilled PRC migrants in Canada

Abstract

Well-educated and trained Chinese professionals immigrating to Canada face barriers in nding jobs. To understand this wastage of human capital, we see entry to the professions as mediated by frameworks. The social construction of careers in uences the demand for labour. Human capital is a social construct de ned by certi cation procedures in Canada and by the way Canadian employers perceive appropriate matches of jobs and job applicants. Their demand for people with 'Canadian experience' blocks entry into higher-level jobs. The study interviewed thirty-two couples in 1999-2001 using qualitative methods to learn about their experiences nding jobs in Toronto.

The skill paradox: explaining and reducing employment discrimination against skilled immigrants

“…Skill-related discrimination against immigrants, the focus of our study, has been addressed by scholars from several disciplines, such as human resource management (e.g., Hakak and Al Ariss 2013;Salaff, Greve and Ping 2002), psychology (e.g., Bhardwaj 2004, 2006), and sociology (e.g., Reitz 2007). This type of discrimination has two basic facets: Either immigrants' skills, such as their academic and professional degrees as well as their work experience, are unfairly devalued (i.e., skill discounting and the devaluation-based skill paradox) or their skills are valued but viewed as a threat to locals (i.e., the threat-based skill paradox).…”

“…Skill discounting means that immigrants' skills are evaluated worse than those of locals, even if they are factually of the same quality. It is both an institutional problem (e.g., Salaff et al 2002) and an individual-level phenomenon in the form of prejudicial biases against immigrant applicants (e.g., Esses et al 2006). Salaff et al (2002), in a study of Chinese migrants to Canada, described numerous cases in which local institutions (e.g., professional boards) did not recognize foreign degrees.…”

International opportunities on the way up: alternative career paths of descendants of migrants from Turkey in the field of professional business services

“…However, a full-fledged standardization of procedures in professional work environments seems rather unlikely due to the significance of soft skills and interpersonal relations, which might even reproduce existing group disadvantage (Moss and Tilly 1996). The fact that employers eventually have to evaluate the "employability" of an applicant reinforces the view that "newcomer" career paths are hardly independent of socially constructed barriers (Salaff, Greve, and Ping 2002).…”

The influence of cross-cultural differences on job interview selection decisions

“…nonrecognition of foreign work experience and credentials, weak language skills, occupational gatekeeping, limited financial assistance for retraining or licensing, differing workplace practices, weak employment-related social networks) that immigrants face on the job market (e.g. Salaff, Greve and Ping 2002;Coombs-Thorne and Warren 2007; The International Journal of Human Resource Management 3513…”