Sociology 339S Immigration and Employment Session 4 Immigrant Skill Underutilization January 30, 200

1
Sociology 339SImmigration and
EmploymentSession 4Immigrant Skill
UnderutilizationJanuary 30, 2006

• Jeffrey G. Reitz
• Department of Sociology
• Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies
• Munk Centre for International Studies
• University of Toronto

2
Todays Agenda

• Extent and Impact of Immigrant Skill
  Underutilization
• Skill Assessment Processes and Immigrants
• Labour Market Sectors Affected
• Cross-national Transferability of Types of Skills

3
Dates for Assignments - Reminder

• Feb. 13 Mid-term take-home exam distributed
• Feb. 27 Mid-term due
• Mar. 6 Essay proposal due
• April 3 Essay due, End-term exam distributed
• April 10 End-term exam due
• Note all assignments due in class
• or submitted at Munk Centre reception desk
• not in sociology drop box

4
1. Extent and Impact of Immigrant Skill
Underutilization

• Definition of skill under-utilization when
  immigrants work at skill levels below the level
  at which comparably qualified native-born workers
  normally work
• One aspect of discrimination based on immigrant
  origins
• Includes non-recognition of qualifications as
  one aspect

5
Skills Not Recognized

• Professional or Trade Credentials by Licensing
  Bodies
• Professional or Trade Credentials by Employers,
  for Immigrants with Canadian Licenses.
• Non-licensed Occupational Credentials
• Skills Deemed Relevant to the Ability to Perform
  a Job, Though Not Specifically Credentialized
• General Education
• Experience
• General Abilities

6
Measurement of Extent

• Labour market survey analysis of earnings, using
  Statistics Canada skill levels
• Immigrant Skill Utilization, 2001
• Survey of perceptions of skills not used
• Watt, D., M. Bloom. Exploring the Learning
  Recognition Gap in Canada. Phase 1 Report.
  Recognizing Learning The Economic Cost of Not
  Recognizing Learning and Learning Credentials in
  Canada. Ottawa Conference Board of Canada, 2001.

7
(No Transcript)
8
Findings of Human Capital Research

• Finding No. 1 Immigrants receive a smaller
  earnings premium for formal education, compared
  to the native-born (net of other variables),
• Finding No. 2 Immigrants receive a smaller
  earnings premium for work experience, compared to
  the native-born (net of other variables), and
• Finding No. 3 Immigrants from particular
  origins groups receive lower earnings than
  immigrants from other origins groups (net of
  other variables).

9
Reasons for Lower Earnings

• transferability, skill relevance or quality
  differences in the specific substance of
  educational or work experiences, which may affect
  their relevance to the Canadian workplace,
• skill utilization differences in the skill
  requirements of the occupations in which
  immigrants are employed (assuming equal skill
  quality), and
• pay equity differences in pay for
  equally-skilled work (assuming equal skill
  quality and occupational skill level).

10
Reasons how to measure?

• Lower earnings at same skill level
• Skill underutilization unequal pay because of
  working in less skilled occupations
• Pay inequity unequal pay in occupations at same
  skill level (with occupation controlled)
• skill transferability?
• guestimate

11
2.4 billion?

• Difference between value of work capability and
  value of work actually done
• Does not take account of transferability issue
• Far less than unequal pay within occupational
  skill levels

12
Survey of perceptions of skills not used

• Watt, D., M. Bloom. Exploring the Learning
  Recognition Gap in Canada. Phase 1 Report.
  Recognizing Learning The Economic Cost of Not
  Recognizing Learning and Learning Credentials in
  Canada. Ottawa Conference Board of Canada,
  2001.
• Includes immigrants and native-born
• Estimate based on perceptions of skills not used,
  earnings in corresponding occupations about 3b

13
Ontario Survey of Licensed Professional Immigrants

• Goldberg, M. (2000). The Facts are In!
  Newcomers Experiences in Accessing Regulated
  Professions in Ontario. Ontario Ministry of
  Training, Colleges and Universities, Access to
  Professions and Trades Unit.
• N643 immigrants trained and expecting to work in
  licensed professions, arriving from 1994,
  surveyed in 1998-9

14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
2. Skill Assessment Processes and Immigrants

• Assumption of human capital theory easy
  acquisition of knowledge about
• skills reflected in specific degrees
• performance of job candidate in acquiring skills
• performance of others with skills in comparable
  work situations
• Immigrants lack access to this form of social
  capital
• invisible degrees
• no references
• no previous record of job performance of person
  with degree

22
3. Labour Market Sectors Affected

• Licensed Professions and Trades
• Non-licensed occupations requiring post-secondary
  credentials
• semi-professions
• administrative
• sales and clerical
• Other occupations (normally requiring high school
  or less)
• taxi, truck driver
• security guard, caretaker
• restaurant worker

23
Knowledge occupations

• Professions
• Highest skill requirements, most elaborate and
  highly bureaucratized procedures for
  qualification assessment
• Census categories Science and engineering,
  social science, health, education (Skill Level
  IV)
• Management
• High skill requirements for senior management in
  knowledge-based industries (SL IV)
• But some less-codified qualifications
  leadership, judgment
• Census categories Health, Education, Business
  Services, etc.
• Not Trade, Construction, Personal Services, etc.
• Outside knowledge occupations
• Higher educational qualifications required in
  many, but specific requirements less codified

24
Increase in size of knowledge occupations,
men(professions more than management)
25
Increase in size of knowledge occupations,
women(both professions and management)
26
Education standards rise within occupations,
men(but more outside knowledge occupations)
27
Education standards rise within occupations,
women(but more outside knowledge occupations
almost as much as for men)
28
Immigrant men proportion in knowledge
occupationsdeclines relative to native-born,
1981 1996
29
Immigrant men access to knowledge
occupationspercent difference with native-born,
1981 1996by educational levels
30
Immigrant women access to knowledge
occupationspercent difference with native-born,
1981 - 1996
31
Immigrant women access to knowledge
occupationspercent difference with native-born,
1981 1996by educational levels
32
Knowledge occupation access, 1996

• Immigrants much less represented in knowledge
  occupations
• Lower representation for immigrants with
  university education
• Black, South Asian, and Filipino origins further
  under-represented relative to education at all
  levels

33
Immigrant access to Professions and Management
Men Women
Source 1996 census of Canada
34
Earnings implications, 1996

• For men
• Immigrant earnings 30 40 less for those with
  university degrees
• Only partly due to lack of access to knowledge
  occupations (5)
• Greater proportional earnings losses outside
  knowledge occupations than within
• For women
• Similar but greater earnings losses also in
  knowledge occupations

35
Net Discounting in Earnings for Men
Women
Source 1996 census of Canada
36
Trend analysis, 1981 - 1996

• Access to knowledge occupations declining even
  relative to qualifications
• Low and declining access to knowledge occupations
  produces part of decline in earnings
• Decline in earnings also caused by discounting of
  immigrant skills outside of knowledge occupations

37
Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor BA
Education, Men, 1981 - 1996
38
Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor
Post-Graduate Education, Men, 1981 - 1996
39
Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor BA
Education, Women, 1981 - 1996
40
Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor
Post-Graduate Education, Women, 1981 - 1996
41
4. Cross-national Transferability of Types of
Skills

• People v. Technical Skills
• Management Skills
• Cultural Intelligence

42
Issues

• Why keep selecting on the basis of skills?
• Can skill utilization improve?
• What can government do?