abstract: 'Recent research points to a growing gap between immigrant and

  native-born outcomes in the Canadian labour market at the same time as

  selection processes emphasize recruiting highly educated newcomers.

  Drawing on interviews with well-educated men and women who migrated from

  countries in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper explores the gendered

  processes that produce weak economic integration in Canada.

  Three-quarters of research participants experienced downward

  occupational mobility, with the majority employed in low-skilled,

  low-wage, insecure forms of survival employment. In a gendered labour

  market, where common demands for Canadian experience, Canadian

  credentials and Canadian accents were uneven across different sectors of

  the labour market, women faced particular difficulties finding survival

  employment; in the long run, however, womens greater investment in

  additional post-secondary education within Canada placed them in a

  somewhat better position than men. The policy implications of this study

  are fourfold: first, we raise questions about the efficacy of Canadian

  immigration policies that prioritize the recruitment of well-educated

  immigrants without addressing the multiple barriers that result in

  deskillling; second, we question government policies and settlement

  practices that undermine more equitable economic integration of

  immigrants; third, we address the importance of tackling the everyday

  racism that immigrants experience in the Canadian labour market; and

  finally, we suggest the need to re-think narrowly defined notions of

  economic integration in light of the gendered nature of contemporary

  labour markets, and immigrants own definitions of what constitutes

  meaningful integration.'
affiliation: 'Creese, G (Corresponding Author), Univ British Columbia, Dept Sociol,
  Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9, Canada.

  Creese, Gillian; Wiebe, Brandy, Univ British Columbia, Dept Sociol, Vancouver, BC
  V5Z 1M9, Canada.'
author: Creese, Gillian and Wiebe, Brandy
author_list:
- family: Creese
  given: Gillian
- family: Wiebe
  given: Brandy
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2435.2009.00531.x
eissn: 1468-2435
files: []
issn: 0020-7985
journal: INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
keywords-plus: LABOR-MARKET; MIGRATION; EARNINGS; COLOR; WORK
language: English
month: OCT
number: '5'
number-of-cited-references: '65'
pages: 56-76
papis_id: c2b8f2eca10f6fa4c39b23d6a1d74c57
ref: Creese2012survivalemployment
times-cited: '150'
title: 'Survival Employment'': Gender and Deskilling among African Immigrants in Canada'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000308941200003
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '50'
volume: '50'
web-of-science-categories: Demography
year: '2012'