IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joimai/v18y2017i3d10.1007_s12134-017-0513-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unspoken Skills and Tactics: Essentials for Immigrant Professionals in Integration to Workplace Culture

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel W. L. Lai

    (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
    University of Calgary)

  • Janki Shankar

    (University of Calgary)

  • Ernest Khalema

    (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

Abstract

Skilled workers and their dependents are the largest group of economic immigrants in Canada, and their labour market integration is critical for immigrant well-being as well as host country economic productivity. However, immigrant professionals face significant barriers to workplace integration, including unfamiliarity with workplace norms and practices. Drawing on constructivist grounded theory, this qualitative study examined challenges associated with socio-cultural workplace interactions and etiquettes among immigrant professionals in Alberta, Canada, as well as strategies to facilitate workplace integration. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 32 immigrant professionals and 30 immigrant service providers and employers. Participants described challenges related to workplace communication and interactions, adaptation to new workplace cultures, recognition of qualifications and experience, and professional outcomes. They identified general professional values, skills, and capacities, and communication and relationships perceived as essential for workplace integration. Strategies for supporting workplace integration included continuing learning and education, training on cultural diversity and workplace skills, professional field experience, and professional mentorship. These findings have implications for practice and policies facilitating the workplace integration of immigrant professionals in Canada, including training and mentorship approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel W. L. Lai & Janki Shankar & Ernest Khalema, 2017. "Unspoken Skills and Tactics: Essentials for Immigrant Professionals in Integration to Workplace Culture," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 937-959, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:18:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s12134-017-0513-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s12134-017-0513-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-017-0513-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12134-017-0513-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fang, Tony & Xiao, Na & Zhu, Jane & Hartley, John, 2022. "Employer Attitudes and the Hiring of Immigrants and International Students: Evidence from a Survey of Employers in Canada," IZA Discussion Papers 15226, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Yukiko Tanaka, 2023. "Healing Toward Interdependency: Building Skills and Resistance Through Immigrant and Indigenous Employment," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 211-229, March.
    3. Micheline Riemsdijk & Scott Basford, 2022. "Integration of Highly Skilled Migrants in the Workplace: a Multi-level Framework," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 633-654, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:18:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s12134-017-0513-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.