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Kristyn Frank University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

“Why Count?”: Are Ethnic Group and Visible Minority Group Useful in the Study of Immigrant Employment Success in Canada?. Kristyn Frank University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Research Problem.

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Kristyn Frank University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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  1. “Why Count?”: Are Ethnic Group and Visible Minority Group Useful in the Study of Immigrant Employment Success in Canada? Kristyn Frank University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

  2. Research Problem • Economic integration of immigrants into Canadian society is a concern to researchers, policy-makers and immigrants themselves • Some question whether employment difficulties of immigrants is due to discriminatory hiring practices

  3. Research Questions • Is the employment success of immigrants to Canada statistically dependent on ethnic origin and/or visible minority group? • If so, which groups have the greatest and least amounts of success? • If so, does ethnic group or visible minority group have a stronger association with employment success?

  4. Background • John Porter (1965): The Vertical Mosaic • Observed Canada as an ethnically stratified society • Found that British and French ethnic groups were the most advantaged • Demographic changes in immigrants shifted focus to stratification from ethnic to racial groupings • Recent studies diverge: • Some support Porter’s thesis (e.g.Nakhaie 1998; Lautard & Loree 1984) • Some find Canadian society stratified more along racial lines (e.g. Herberg 1990; Lian and Matthews 1998)

  5. Data Source • Survey: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada • Statistics Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada • Immigrants’ experiences adapting to Canadian society in their first 4 years • Includes immigrants who arrived between Oct. 1, 2000 and Sept. 30, 2001

  6. Methodology • Scope: • Individuals aged 25-64 • Individuals who stated an intended occupation prior to immigrating • Statistical Methods: • Chi-square tests of independence • Cramer’s V strength of association test • Weighting: Proportional to sample size

  7. Definition of Terms • Ethnic Group: Respondent’s ethnic or cultural identity as it relates to themselves or their ancestors • Visible Minority Group: “Visible minority” identified within Canadian society as “non-Caucasian”; based on physical attributes

  8. Definition of Terms • “Employment Success” measured by 2 dependent variables: • Major Group Job Match: Whether an immigrant obtained a job since immigrating that matches his/her intended occupation at the major group level of the 2001 National Occupational Classification (e.g. “Clerical Occupations”; “Professional Occupations in Health”) • Skill Level Match: Whether the skill level of any job that an immigrant has held since arrival matches the skill level required for his/her intended occupation (4 skill levels-2001 NOC)

  9. Findings: Employment Success of Immigrants to Canada (Major Group)

  10. Findings: Employment Success of Immigrants to Canada (Skill Level)

  11. Findings: Chi-Square Tests of Independence - Major Group

  12. Findings: Major Group Job Match by Ethnic Group

  13. Findings: Major Group Job Match by Visible Minority Group

  14. Findings: Chi-Square Tests of Independence – Skill Level

  15. Findings: Skill Level Match by Ethnic Group

  16. Findings: Skill Level Match by Visible Minority Group

  17. Conclusions • Both ethnic group and visible minority group are relevant to the study of immigrant employment success • Strength of association tests show visible minority group has a slightly stronger relationship with major group job match than ethnic group does • Ethnic group and visible minority group have stronger associations with skill level match than with major group job match • The French and British/Northern European ethnic groups have more employment success than other groups • The South Asian and Arab ethnic groups have the least employment success than other groups

  18. Conclusions • Among visible minority groups, Whites have a high degree of success in obtaining a major group match and skill level match • The Japanese and Korean visible minority group, as well as the Arab and West Asian group have low employment success compared to others

  19. Discussion • Studies that include ethnic group and/or visible minority group may have problems with the concepts overlapping • Respondents may confuse the two concepts • Researchers have to deal with similar labels between the two variables (e.g. “Arab”) • When using some data sets, some categories have to be collapsed, further complicating the distinctions between groups

  20. Discussion • Policy Implications of focusing on Ethnic Group vs. Visible Minority Group • Different policy concerns and recommendations based on which concept is studied

  21. Thank You!Merci!

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