Abstract
This study examined the experiences of a sample of skilled immigrants to Canada from Asia and Africa who were currently experiencing credentialing problems (N = 180). Most respondents had advanced postsecondary training and a job requiring a high level of skill prior to emigrating, but many were unable to obtain equivalent work in Canada. In reaction, they took work for which they were overqualified, volunteered, had their qualifications assessed, and upgraded their training. Most respondents were surprised and upset that it was so difficult for them to obtain a suitable job in their profession, and many felt that immigrants were discriminated against by Canadian employers. The policy implications of this “brain waste” are discussed.
Résumé
Cette étude examine les expériences d’un échantillon représentatif d’immigrants au Canada qualifiés, originaires de l’Asie et de l’Afrique, qui connaissaient au moment de l’étude des problèmes de credentialing (N = 180). La plupart des interrogés possédaient une qualification postsecondaire et avaient pratiqué avant d’émigrer un emploi exigeant un haut niveau de compétences, mais beaucoup d’eux n’avaient pas pu obtenir un travail équivalent au Canada. Comme réaction, ils avaient pris un travail pour lequel ils étaient surqualifiés, ou ils travaillaient comme volontaires, ou avaient fait évaluer leurs qualifications ou les avaient améliorées. La plupart des interrogés étaient surpris et vexés qu’il était si difficile pour eux de trouver un emploi approprié dans leur profession, et beaucoup croyaient que les immigrés étaient des victimes de discrimination de la part des employeurs canadiens. Les implications politiques résultant de ce “gaspillage des cerveaux” sont examinées.
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Notes
Of the 29 respondents in the sample who came to Canada as students, 3 had become landed immigrants and 3 Canadian citizens. The remaining 23 respondents were still students but intended to become Canadians and make Canada their home.
Eight participants were recruited by Nadin, who worked with a contact person at local community and government agencies that provide services to immigrants.
Write to Grant for a copy of the questionnaire.
A reviewer of an early draft of this paper suggested that these scales may be biased because they do not contain positive emotions. However, qualitative interviews from a previous study (Grant 2005b, Study 1) had shown that credentialing problems are experienced very negatively. Therefore, it was felt that asking about positive emotional reactions to this experience would be inappropriate and very insensitive.
In the earlier study (Grant 2007, Study 1), the general sample of immigrants also identified significantly more strongly with their cultural group (M = 5.51) than with Canada (M = 5.04); t(389) = 6.02, p < 0.0001.
Specifically these two groups of respondents did not differ in terms of the strength of their cultural identity, their positive attitudes toward multiculturalism, the degree to which they perceived cultural incompatibilities between their culture and Canadian culture, and the degree to which they felt that Canadian employers discriminated against immigrants. Indeed, the only significant differences found between these two groups were that, on average, students/visitors had lived in Canada for a shorter length of time [25.4 vs 46.7 months; t(159) = 3.01, p < 0.01], had held fewer Canadian jobs [1.03 vs 1.53, t(136) = 2.30, p < 0.05], had a lower personal income [1.64 vs 2.70; t(159) = 3.39, p < 0.001, where “1” means $10,000 to $19,999 and “2” means $20,000 to $29,999 per year], and were younger [2.66 vs 3.26, t(158) = 4.34, p < .001, where “2” means the 20s and “3” means the 30s].
Mulder and Korenic (2005) show that male immigrants are more likely to be trained in engineering and applied sciences, while female immigrants are more likely to be trained in the health professions and in management and business administration. There was very little difference between the type of professional training received by men and women in this sample, however. The exception being that men were more likely to be trained in the natural and applied sciences than women; 42.6 vs 26.9%, X 2(1, N = 114) = 3.06, p < .08.
One quarter of the respondents (26.9%) indicated that their Canadian training/education had not upgraded their qualifications.
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Acknowledgement
The research was funded by a grant from the Prairie Metropolis Centre. We acknowledge, with thanks, the support of the Metropolis Project, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and other Federal Government departments, especially Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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Selected results from this research were presented at the Tenth International Metropolis conference, Toronto, October, 2005, as part of a workshop organized and chaired by Peter Grant entitled “Credentialing Problems Facing Skilled Immigrants.” We thank Busola Adelugba, Giti Caravan, and Le Li for their invaluable assistance.
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Grant, P.R., Nadin, S. The Credentialing Problems of Foreign Trained Personnel from Asia and Africa Intending to Make their Home in Canada: A Social Psychological Perspective. Int. Migration & Integration 8, 141–162 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-007-0011-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-007-0011-2