The Employment Experiences of Canadian Refugees: Measuring the Impact of Human and Social Capital on Quality of Employment*

Abstract

Passant en revue les expériences de réétablissement de 525 réfugiés adultes vivant au Canada, cette étude utilise une approche de régression multiple pour faire une enquête sur les répercussions du capital humain et social sur la qualité de L'emploi des réfugiés. La «théorie de la structuration « de Giddens fournit un cadre interprétatif utile pour décrire comment la compétence des réfugiés est contrainte ou habilitée par les règies et les ressources régissant le processus d'intégration à L'emploi. Les résultats montrent que les réfugiés ont recours aux liens à la fois de la famille et du groupe ethnique dans la recherche d'un emploi. Cependant, restreints par une combinaison de barrières structurales, un nombre significatif de réfugiés découvrent que leur capital humain a peu ou pas de valeur sur le marché du travail canadien et, de plus, que les réseaux qu'ils utilisent en ce moment ne sont peut‐être pas suffisants pour compenser la chute de leur mobilité d'emploi. Examining the resettlement experiences of 525 adult refugees living in Canada, this study uses a multiple regression approach to investigate the impact of human and social capital on refugees' quality of employment. Giddens' structuration theory acts as a useful interpretive framework to describe how refugee agency is constrained and enabled by the rules and resources governing the employment integration process. Results show that refugees use both family and ethnic‐group ties as resources in searching for employment. However, constrained by a combination of structural barriers, a significant proportion of refugees find that their human capital has little or no value in the Canadian labour market and, moreover, that the networks refugees are presently employing may not be sufficient to compensate for their downward occupational mobility.

‘Yes, we can; but together’: social capital and refugee resettlement

“…It is characterised by strong relationships (Marlowe 2011); family connections and connections with people from the same ethnic community so that cultural practices and settlement experiences can be shared (Pittaway et al 2009) and familiar relationships maintained. Connections with members of similar ethnic groups also assist in integration through increasing health and well-being and providing opportunities for employment (Lamba 2003). For social bonds to develop within and between ethnic groups, refugee community organisations need to be formed in order to strengthen a sense of identity and safety (Spencer 2006).…”

Past, present and future: how the Lithuanian Diaspora in the Netherlands accumulates human capital from social capital

“…Social networks comprise a diversity of social links and interactions between individuals (Lamba 2003). The resources and various benefits embedded in these links and interactions evoke the concept of social capital (Bourdieu 1993;Portes 2000).…”

“…Some studies have established that social capital can compensate for a lack of local knowledge, language skills or professional qualifications, or a person's 'human capital' assets (Portes and Sensenbrenner 1993). In this respect, social capital can be particularly helpful for migrants with low or devalued human capital in a foreign labour market context, through their connection to fellow natives (Åkesson 2013;Lamba 2003). However, other studies argue that social capital can have negative implications for migrants, limiting their scope of employment possibilities to specifically lowskilled positions (Kelly and Lusis 2006), or exerting social pressure to send remittances to family in the homeland (Chort, Gubert, and Senne 2012;Lindley, 2009).…”

“…Over the past decade, people's mobility and migration across borders has become an increasingly significant topic within the social sciences domain (Lamba 2003;McIlwaine 2011;Moser 2009). This can partly be attributed to growing migration across Europe, catalysed by the open borders policy among European Union (EU) member countries.…”

Overseas-qualified professionals: the search for professional re-entry and its perceived impact on settlement

“…Several studies in Canada and the UK have showed that while bonding social capital, which many migrants possessed on arrival, increased employment opportunities it rarely facilitated skill utilisation (George & Chaze, 2009;Lamba, 2003;Ngo & Este, 2006). Research in Canada (Lamba, 2003) which looked at the impact of social capital on the quality of employment among refugees found that both family and ethnic group ties were used as resources in the search for work.…”