Sociology 339F Immigration and Employment http:www'utoronto'caethnicstudiesSOC339'html

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Sociology 339FImmigration and Employmenthttp//
www.utoronto.ca/ethnicstudies/SOC339.html

• Instructor Prof. Jeffrey G. Reitz
• Department of Sociology
• Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies
• Munk Centre for International Studies
• University of Toronto
• Fall, 2007

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Sociology 339FImmigration and EmploymentSession
11 November 20Institutional changeand
declining immigrant employment success

• Readings
• Jeffrey G. Reitz, Immigrant success in the
  knowledge economy institutional change and the
  immigrant experience in Canada, 1970-1995,
  Journal of Social Issues, 57,3 (2001) 579-613.
• Jeffrey G. Reitz, Tapping immigrant skills New
  Directions for Canadian Immigration Policy in the
  Knowledge Economy, IRPP Choices 11, 1 (February
  2005) 2-18.

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Agenda

• Trends in immigrant employment success review
• Some current explanations
• Institutional change as cause review
• Educational change a specific institutional
  explanation
• Further focus on the knowledge economy
• Policy issues

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Trends in Economic Success of Immigrants - Review

• High and rising immigrant skills (human capital)
• Decline in immigrant employment in recent years

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Trends in relative earnings of immigrant menby
arrival cohort, ages 20-64
21-25 years
16-20 years
11-15 years
6-10 Years
0-5 years
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Trends in relative earnings of immigrant womenby
arrival cohort, ages 20-64
21-25 years
16-20 years
11-15 years
6-10 Years
0-5 years
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• Toronto Star, Nov. 21, 1999

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Earnings trends for immigrant men
Source Frenette and Morissette, Statistics
Canada, 2003
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Some reasons offered for decline

• Business cycle effects
• But expected rebound in late 1990s not seen in
  2001 census data
• Origins shift
• After 1980 little shift decline applies to most
  origins groups
• Lack of language skills
• Debate over measurement of language
• Adverse conditions for all new labor market
  entrants
• Not specifically an immigration problem
• Decline in value of immigrants foreign
  experience
• Increased credential competition
• Immigrants disadvantaged because of
  non-recognition of qualifications

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Institutional change as cause? review

• Institutional systems as cause of Canada-US
  differences
• Institutional change education, labour markets,
  welfare
• Education decomposition analysis

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Percent completing university degree (young
adults)
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Post-secondary enrollment rates
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Decomposition analysis

• Used in analysis of gender gaps in earnings
• Based on earnings equations
• Ym ßmXm Km e, Yw ßwXw Kw e,
• where Yw womens earnings,
• K constant
• Xw vector of human capital characteristics
• ßw gender-specific labour market value of human
  capital
• Gender differences in earnings a result of
  differences in ß and X
• Decomposition uses equations to answer questions
  what would womens earnings be
• if women had mens ß (part due to lower value of
  human capital)
• If women had mens X (part due to lower human
  capital)

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Decomposition analysis applied to immigrants

• Equations for immigrants and native-born
• Show native-born education rises faster,
  immigrant education valued less, native-born
  education value rises, no change of immigrants
• To find change due to change in relative
  education, ask
• How does native-born earnings change as their
  education changes?
• How does immigrant earnings change as their
  education changes, assuming native-born value of
  education?
• To find change due to lower value of immigrant
  education, ask as well
• How does immigrant earnings change as their
  education changes, assuming initial value of
  immigrant education?
• To find change due to change in relative value
  of immigrant education, ask
• How does immigrant earnings change as their
  education changes, assuming final value of
  immigrant education?

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Conclusions

• Rising educational levels of native-born creates
  barriers for immigrants increased credentialism
  and use of credentials
• Low value of immigrant qualifications compounds
  problem they play credential game with
  devalued currency
• Decline in relative value of immigrant
  qualifications may be a small factor
• Both relevant to devaluation of immigrant skills

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U.S. comparison

• 1970s
• Lower labour market position of immigrants in
  U.S.
• Traditional explanation immigration policy,
  discrimination difference
• Warmth of the Welcome Institutional system,
  emphasis on education and labour markets
• Trends since 1970s
• Rising immigrant skills
• Canadian educational convergence with U.S.

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Immigrants in Knowledge Economy

• Emphasis on skills
• Increased native-born skills
• Implications for discrimination
• Implications for international transferability of
  skills
• Skill validation processes
• Organizational decision-making
• Global networks

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Theories of Knowledge Economy

• Daniel Bell The Coming of Post-Industrial
  Society (1973)
• Shift to knowledge as the scarce resource
• Harry Braverman Labor and Monopoly Capital
  (1973)
• Technology as management tool to increase power
• Implications
• Labour markets
• Workplace organization

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Theories of the Knowledge Economy
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Immigrants in Knowledge Economy

• Access to knowledge occupations
• Organizational effectiveness in knowledge
  occupations

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More detailed study

• Jeffrey G . Reitz, "Occupational Dimensions of
  Immigrant Credential Assessment Trends in
  Professional, Managerial, and Other Occupations,
  1970-1996." Pp. 469-506 in Charles Beach, Alan
  Green, and Jeffrey G. Reitz (eds.), Canadian
  Immigration Policy for the 21st Century,
  Kingston, ON John Deutsch Institute for the
  Study of Economic Policy, 2003.
• Analysis of access to knowledge occupations,
  census data for 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996

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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

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

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Immigrant access to Professions and Management
Men Women
Source 1996 census of Canada
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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

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Net Discounting in Earnings for Men
Women
Source 1996 census of Canada
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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

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Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor BA
Education, Men, 1981 - 1996
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Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor
Post-Graduate Education, Men, 1981 - 1996
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Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor BA
Education, Women, 1981 - 1996
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Relative Immigrant Earnings Premiumsfor
Post-Graduate Education, Women, 1981 - 1996
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Access outside knowledge occupations

• Professional occupations and management of
  professionals
• Less immigrant access
• Declining immigrant access
• Non-professional, high-skilled occupations
• Lack of rigorous credential review
• Over-qualification problem
• Descent to the bottom taxis and pizzas

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Canadian policy options in response to decline

• Upgrade selection, intensify skilled immigrant
  recruitment?
• Abandon mass immigration?
• Do nothing? Accept immigrant poverty? Wait for
  second generation?
• Address skill utilization, integrate immigrants
  in knowledge economy

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Possible labour market changes

• Licensing reforms
• Credential assessment
• Employer actions
• Upgraded HRM
• Workplace Internships and Mentoring
• Recognition for outstanding efforts
• Immigrant actions
• Web-based sources, before and after arrival
• Educational institutions
• Bridge training
• Unions

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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

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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

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Attitudes

• Do attitudes matter?
• Is there acceptance of
• Managing diversity
• Business case for hiring immigrants and
  minorities
• National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR)

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Decision-making and Timing

• Need for government action?
• Market forces and national priorities
• Division of responsibility
• Citizenship and Immigration
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
• Provincial Governments
• Canadian leadership?

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Implications and Issues

• Are present efforts enough?
• What are consequences of failure?
• Where will political pressure come from?

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Sociology 339FImmigration and EmploymentNext
week Session 12 November 27Human Rights and
Employment Equity Policy

• Readings
• Helen Beck, Jeffrey G. Reitz, and Nan Weiner,
  Proving and redressing systemic racial
  discrimination the Health Canada case, Canadian
  Public Policy 28, 3 (2002) 20 pp.
• Carol Agocs. "Canada's employment equity
  legislation and policy, 1987-2000 the gap
  between policy and practice." International
  Journal of Manpower 23.3 (March 2002) 256-96.