Making Sense Of Immigrant Work Integration

This open access book explores the wicked problem of immigrant work integration, with specific examples from Canada. Bringing together a variety of disciplinary perspectives, it discusses immigrant work integration as a process of sensemaking, involving multiple actors (immigrants, organizations, communities, and governments) and multiple scales (individual, interactional, organizational, and institutional). The authors identify key players, issues, practices of support, and avenues for future research. This work contributes to enhancing the social impact of academic research by providing a comprehensive overview of the field of immigrant work integration for researchers in global mobility and organizational studies, as well as practitioners. Luciara Nardon is Professor of International Business at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, Canada. Her research explores cultural and cognitive influences on work in multicultural environments. She has published books and academic articles on topics related to migration and cross-cultural management. Amrita Hari is Associate Professor in the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at Carleton University, Canada. Her research interests lie within global migrations, transnationalism, diaspora, and citizenship. She has published her research in various academic journals on migration and gender.

There has been a marked rise in global migration with many former countries of emigration becoming destinations of immigration. As such, social workers are increasingly called upon to work in immigrant communities, while in the field of research, theories, conceptual frames, perspectives and discourse have materialized and evolved to make sense of contemporary events. Valtonen familiarizes the reader with the variation in national policies, institutional arrangements and service responses, and provides salient information to help with visioning in the profession, defining appropriate and concerted responses, and building robust standing in the field as well as promoting the linking of disciplinary and multidisciplinary research with practice.

This book provides a critical voice to immigrants through their subjective workplace experiences. Through a lens of critical sensemaking (CSM), stakeholders can understand the role of sensemaking in immigrants’ decisions and to refocus the debate around immigration policy from structural to discursive approaches.

When immigrants leave their home country to live in a host country that has a different culture, the acculturation process begins. There is subtle cultural, social, and political pressure on immigrants to adopt the cultural values of the host nation. The acculturation process occurs over time. Exposure to a new culture is often stressful, as one is exposed to new values, beliefs, and behaviors that may be different from their home culture. Strategies for Cultural Assimilation of Immigrants and Their Children: Social, Economic, and Political Considerations increases awareness of the cultural assimilation process among parents, children, employers, and educators. This book discusses internal conflicts and promotes harmony and understanding. Covering topics such as civic literacy, mental health, and identity formations, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for sociologists, psychologists, government officials, educators and administrators of both K-12 and higher education, students of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

This practical book offers a guide to finding, choosing, and applying theoretical frameworks to social sciences research, and provides researchers with the scaffolding needed to reflect on their philosophical orientations and better situate their work in the existing landscape of empirical and theoretical knowledge. Using a multifaceted approach, the book provides clear definitions, primary tenets, historical context, highlights of the challenges and contemporary discussion and, perhaps more importantly, concrete and successful examples of studies that have drawn on and incorporated each theoretical framework. The authors define and explain the connections among such concepts as ontology, epistemology, paradigm, theory, theoretical frameworks, conceptual frameworks, and research methodology; describe the process of finding and effectively using theoretical and conceptual frameworks in research; and offer brief overviews of particular theories within the following disciplines: sociology, psychology, education, leadership, public policy, political science, economics, organizational studies, and business. The book also has a dedicated chapter on critical theories, and for each theory, provides a definition, explores how the theory is useful for researchers, discusses the background and foundations, outlines key terms and concepts, presents examples of theoretical applications, and gives an overview of strengths and limitations. This book offers a useful starting point for any researcher interested in better situating their work in existing conceptual and theoretical knowledge, but it will be especially useful for graduate students and early career researchers who are looking for clear definitions of complex terms and concepts, and for an introduction to useful theories across disciplines.

Measureable, data driven outcomes are not the only indicators of success in today’s multicultural and globalized workforce. How employees interact with their colleagues and customers is also a significant factor in their career development. Luciara Nardon draws on her extensive research and international experience to guide employees and managers through the ambiguous and uncertain waters of today’s multicultural workplace. Each intercultural encounter is unique, involving different people, contexts, dynamics, and actions which general cultural protocols are unable to address. In Working in a Multicultural World, Nardon offers a comprehensive framework for understanding intercultural interactions and developing skills for successful intercultural situations. Numerous examples and exercises, including how to reconcile personal beliefs of equality with a hierarchical workplace and how to respond to perceived aggressiveness in business negotiations, enable employees and managers to embark on reflective processes that will springboard their intercultural competence. Working in a Multicultural World is an accessibly written and valuable resource for all professionals in today’s workplace as well as students and travelers interested in intercultural relations.

There has been a marked rise in global migration with many former countries of emigration becoming immigration destinations. As a result of this, social workers increasingly encounter immigrant clients and are called upon to work in their communities. At the same time, in the field of research, theories, conceptual frames, perspectives and discourse have materialized and evolved to make sense of contemporary events. Social work professionals, researchers and students must, therefore, need to be apprised of current thinking, research and discourse in the field of integration. Valtonen familiarizes the reader with the variation in national policies, institutional arrangements and service responses, which all provide rich contrasts and insights into a breadth of policy possibilities. Since macro-level developments in migration carry direct implications for social work as a discipline and a profession with a central stake and role in immigrant wellbeing, this book provides salient information to help with visioning in the profession, defining appropriate and concerted responses, and building robust standing in the field as well as promoting the linking of disciplinary and multidisciplinary research with practice.

This joint publication by the OECD and the European Commission presents a comprehensive international comparison across all EU, OECD and G20 countries of the integration outcomes for immigrants and their children, through 25 indicators organised around three areas: labour market and skills ...