Debates around the issues of knowledge of, and for, social work and other social justice–oriented professions are not uncommon. More prevalent are the discussions around the ways by which social work knowledge is obtained. In recent years, social work scholars have drawn on the epistemology of pragmatism to present a case for its value in the creation of knowledge for social work and other social justice–oriented professions. The primary focus of this essay is on providing a critical review and synthesis of the literature regarding pragmatism as a research paradigm. In this essay, we analyze the major philosophical underpinnings and methodological challenges associated with pragmatism, synthesize the works of scholars who have contributed to the understanding of pragmatism as a research paradigm, articulate our thoughts about how pragmatism fits within social work research, and illustrate how it is linked to the pursuit of social justice. This article brings together a variety of perspectives to argue that pragmatism has the potential to closely engage and empower marginalized and oppressed communities and provide hard evidence for the macro level discourse.

It is often believed that the settlement and integration of skilled immigrants is moderately easy in Canada, and that skilled immigrants do well in Canada after a brief adjustment period. However, numerous barriers prevent the effective integration of skilled immigrants in the mainstream society. Despite being famous for its Federal Skilled Worker Program, which includes the immigration of skilled workers through Express Entry, Canada shows disappointing results in the economic and social outcomes of the integration of skilled immigrants. This has socioeconomic implications for the immigrants and affects their health and wellbeing. Therefore, there is a need for all those who are involved with immigrant integration to explore and be conversant about the contexts and issues faced by skilled newcomers in Canada. In reviewing the academic and grey literature on the settlement and integration of skilled immigrants in Canada, this paper highlights the challenges faced by skilled immigrants in Canada and the needs experienced by them in facing these challenges. It provides an overview of the experiences and expectations of skilled immigrants related to their settlement and integration in Canada. This paper indicates a need to evaluate the availability of immigrant services focused on skilled immigrants and the effectiveness of the existing support offered to them by various government and non-government agencies.

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Due to international migration, a large number of workplaces are becoming linguistically diverse. This creates challenges for the workplace integration of immigrants and increases the risk of their social exclusion. A systematic review was conducted to determine the effects of linguistic diversity on social integration of immigrants within the workplace. Articles were identified by reviewing abstracts in electronic databases using keywords related to linguistic diversity, social integration, immigrants and workplace. The search yielded ten peer reviewed articles, published in English, between 2000 and 2014. Information was extracted and synthesized from both quantitative and qualitative studies. The studies were found to be concerned on: (1) social integration or social inclusion/exclusion, (2) social interaction and inter-group perception, and (3) accent discrimination. Smooth social and professional assimilation and the equality of opportunities for the immigrants were considered as the determining factors of their complete social integration in the workplace. Most studies in this review established a connection between social integration and local language skills; some indicated that racial discrimination and ethnicity based stereotyping contributes to social exclusion of immigrants, particularly when the studies involved visible minorities. The review enhances our understanding of challenges of complete social integration faced by immigrants and reinforces the need to invest in policies and program aimed at preventing marginalization of immigrants. Due to limited number of studies identified by this review and the variation in findings, further research is necessary to investigate the role of linguistic diversity in the workplace integration of immigrants in immigrant receiving countries.