Ethnic and Cultural Diversity:

Within the past decade, feminist therapists have successfully taken a leadership role in challenging the traditional and inherent prejudice and discrimination concerning women in psychotherapeutic counseling theory and practice. As progress is made in research, theory, and practice affecting the mental health of women in therapy, more complex issues emerge. This paper will focus on the issues of ethnic and cultural diversity, as it applies to women of color seeking therapy.     

Fertility Behavior of Immigrants in Canada: Converging Trends

Using data from the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, this paper compares fertility behavior across three immigrant generations: foreign born, second generation, the population of third or more generations. Several important findings emerge from this study. First, consistent with previous studies, we have documented higher fertility for the foreign born and lowest for the second generation, but these differences are no longer statistically significant after controls for sociodemographic factors. The differentials by age, with higher fertility for those who arrived after age 15, also disappear after controls. These findings support the hypothesis that it is the sociodemographic characteristics of the immigrant generations that matter rather than the generational status itself. The controls did not eliminate the differentials by visible minority status, which show highest fertility in the Black population and lowest in the Chinese population. Consistent with the finding that lowest fertility occurs among persons who are least acculturated, we suggest that the relative opportunity structures of given minority groups may be part of the explanation.     

Rethinking Social Participation: The Case of Immigrants in Canada

The social engagement of Canada’s immigrants continues to be the subject of debates. Most studies indicate a lower level of involvement, particularly for recent immigrants. This article investigates the possible causes of this lower participation by analyzing data from the 1998 General Social Survey (GSS), which provides precise measures of two different types of social engagement: volunteering and social participation. Three results stand out. First, formal volunteering and broader social participation do not display the same level of variability across groups. Second, the positive family effect usually observed does not apply to immigrants: the presence of children does not significantly increase their social engagement. Third, there is a strong gender component: whereas Canadian women are more likely to participate, immigrant women are not. Other factors (age, income, education), on the other hand, do seem to apply to both groups. We suggest that these results contribute to a new explanation of immigrant social engagement: Rather than being marked by a general immigration differential, newcomers to Canada seem to be left out of very specific, gender-influenced modes of participation, specifically, those related to the family, children, and schooling.     

Antecedents of Underemployment: Job Search of Skilled Immigrants in Canada

We investigate factors that skilled immigrants can improve in order to have better job search outcomes, in particular to avoid underemployment. We test an unfolding model which considers barriers faced by skilled immigrants during their job search (language and cultural barriers, and the lack of social support in the receiving country), job search constructs and job search outcomes (including underemployment). We collected data through an online questionnaire and obtained 357 usable responses from skilled immigrants in Canada. The hypotheses were tested with partial least squares (PLS). Language fluency and cultural knowledge were positively related to both job search clarity and job search self‐efficacy. Social support was only related to job search self‐efficacy. Job search clarity was related to job search intensity. Job search intensity was related to the number of interviews, which in turn, was related to the number of job offers. Finally, the number of job offers was negatively related to underemployment. Our paper contributes to the understanding of the job search of skilled immigrants by examining factors that can help them overcome obstacles and obtain better job search outcomes.     

Social Capital, Employment and Occupational Status of the New Immigrants in Canada

Using the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants in Canada (LSIC), this study examines the role of social capital in the labour market integration of new immigrants in Canada, utilizing various measures of social capital and treating employment and occupational Socio-Economic Scale (SES) as the indicators of labour market integration. The findings show that visible minority immigrants have significantly lower levels of employment and SES compared to white immigrants. Furthermore, social capital contributes significantly to an increased likelihood of employment and also to higher SES positions. However, the effect of social capital varies by the types of social capital, ethno-racial origins, as well as forms of economic integration.     

Life Satisfaction Among Recent Immigrants in Canada: Comparisons to Source-Country and Host-Country Populations

Research examining how changes in life circumstances affect subjective well-being has been dominated by set-point theory. New evidence challenges the assumptions of this theory, indicating that major life events can result in lasting changes to individuals’ life satisfaction. This study examines whether changes in national-level conditions following migration affect the life satisfaction of immigrant groups from different source countries by comparing the average life satisfaction levels of immigrant groups to that of non-emigrants in their source countries. Life satisfaction differences between immigrant groups and the native-born population in Canada are also examined. Results show that migration to a country with improved national-level conditions increases immigrants’ life satisfaction. Most immigrant groups had higher life satisfaction than their source-country counterparts and life satisfaction scores were similar to those of the native-born population. These findings persist when the sample includes immigrants who have resided in Canada for up to 20 years.     

Social Capital and Economic Integration of Visible Minority Immigrants in Canada

On the basis of the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, we study the role of human and social capital in explaining the personal earnings of foreign born persons working full-time, aged 25–64 years. The income differences associated with given visible minority categories are reduced after controls for human and social capital, but the differences remain significant, especially for men and for all but the Chinese category. Among the human capital factors, education and speaking English or French at home are positively related with earnings, while having the highest degree or diploma from outside of Canada is negative for all groups, although not statistically significant. Among the social capital considerations, trust was associated with higher income, while lack of participation in community organizations was an earnings disadvantage. Counter to expectations, individualization, or weak bonding and weak bridging ties, was associated with higher income, for men and for the other/multiple visible minorities and white immigrants.     

Global Banking and Financial Services to Immigrants in Canada and the US

It is important to consider how financial institutions are adjusting their operational strategies because of the changing dynamics of financial resource and population flows. This paper compares the ways in which globally prominent banks provide financial services to immigrants in Canada and the US and addresses the following two research questions: (1) How has HSBC reacted strategically and operationally to people–money comovements involving immigrants, in which HSBC has ethnic assets, in the US and Canada? (2) What are the similarities and differences in HSBC’s strategic choices in entering or expanding in the San Francisco and Vancouver areas, and what explains such differences?     

Ethnic Diversity and Differential Policing in Australia: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This paper focuses on three models of policing that have variously been exercised in relation to ethnic minority young people in Australia. As part of this, the paper critically explores policing that is primarily based upon coercion (‘the bad’), and, at its worst, explicitly discriminatory forms of zero tolerance (‘the ugly’), and compares these with police interventions that favour a more constructive and positive community-based approach (‘the good’). The paper provides a comprehensive review of literature on police–ethnic minority youth relations in the Australian context, as well as indicating recent strategic developments within police services around the country.     

Earnings of Immigrants in Traditional and Non-Traditional Destinations: A Case Study from Atlantic Canada

Despite growing interest in the regionalization of immigration, comparative studies of the labor market outcomes of immigrants in traditional and non-traditional destinations remain limited in Canada. Using Atlantic Canada as a non-traditional destination and drawing data from the 2006 Census of Population, this study compares the determinants of immigrant earnings in this region with those of three major traditional destinations, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver (MTV). Results indicate the returns to postgraduate degrees and foreign credentials on earnings are higher in Atlantic Canada than MTV, although the costs of being visible minorities and speaking non-official language(s) at home are not statistically different between the two destinations. Results also show the earning disparities linked to employment in ethnic businesses are smaller in Atlantic Canada. This paper discusses implications of these findings for immigrant settlement policy.     

Internal and External Ethnic Identity and Their Correlates: A Study of Chinese American Immigrants

The measurement of internal ethnic identity and external ethnic identity showed that Chinese American immigrants could be differentiated into different identity groups. Additionally, internal ethnic identity significantly predicted salience of ethnicity and loss of face. Income, ethnicity salience, external ethnic identity, and loss of face were significant predictors of acculturative stress.     

Involvement in Ethnic Organizations and Community Activism Among Asian Immigrants in the United States

This study examines whether ethnic organization members have a lower likelihood of community activism than multiethnic organization members as predicted by social capital approaches to collective civic engagement. Community activism is measured by whether the respondent has worked with others in his or her community to solve a problem in the last 12 months. Data come from the 2008 National Asian American Survey, and the sample is limited to five major Asian immigrant groups (the Chinese, Asian Indians, Filipinos, Koreans, and the Vietnamese) for group-specific analyses. Findings suggest that membership in ethnic organizations does not necessarily diminish the probability of community activism: For the Chinese and Asian Indians, members of ethnic organizations have a higher probability of community activism than their non-joiner counterparts. Yet, consistent with the prediction of social capital approaches, there is a significant difference in the probability of community activism between members of multiethnic organizations and non-joiners for all ethnic groups, except for the Vietnamese. Nevertheless, findings show that there is no significant difference in the likelihood of community activism between members of ethnic organizations and those of multiethnic organizations for each ethnic group. Thus, data from the 2008 NAAS fail to provide compelling evidence to support the social capital argument that involvement in ethnic organizations has a significantly weaker effect on collective civic engagement than involvement in multiethnic organizations. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings.     

Immigrant Enclave Thesis Reconsidered: Case of Chinese Immigrants in the Enclave and Mainstream Economy in Canada

Since the development of the immigrant enclave thesis, there has been a disagreement regarding whether the immigrant enclave hurts or benefits individual immigrants’ earnings. The controversy mainly arises from the imprecise way by which enclave participation is measured and from the difference in performance between entrepreneurs and workers. This study uses data from the 2006 Census of Canada to examine how Chinese immigrants who participate in the mainstream economy and enclave economy differ in earnings. Using “the language used most often at work” to determine enclave participation, the study finds that actual and net earnings of Chinese immigrants in the enclave are lower than those of their counterparts in the mainstream economy. However, when the interaction between human capital and enclave participation is considered, human capital brings a net negative return to enclave participants, but at the same time, a positive effect associated with enclave participation. The positive effect may be understood as coming from unmeasured ethnic and cultural features of the enclave that provide a cushion to lessen the magnitude of income disadvantages in the enclave. The study suggests that there is evidence to support both sides of the debate: enclave participants have lower net returns, but the enclave provides a cushioning effect in reducing earnings disparities. The study suggests that integration policy towards immigrants may consider immigrant enclaves as providing some support to immigrants to soften some disadvantages, but enclaves do not offer the same opportunities as the mainstream economy.     

Socioeconomic Diversity Among African Immigrants in the United States: An Intra-African Immigrant Comparison

Recent studies on Black immigrants in the USA report higher than average socioeconomic and educational attainment for African immigrants. Based on an intra-African immigrant comparison, we examine the generalizability of this finding to African groups of differing countries and regions using data from the 1990 and 2000 5 % U.S. census Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS). We specifically ask whether hourly earnings of African immigrants vary by region of origin. Results of our analyses reveal that sending region is an important determinant of variations in hourly earnings among African immigrants. Also, data indicate that both race and gender are significantly associated with earning outcomes; with the earnings of males and whites significantly higher than those of females and blacks. We discuss these findings in the context of the so-called “black immigrant success story.”     

Intergenerational Similitude of Ethnic Identification and Ethnic Identity: A Brief Report on Immigrant Chinese Mother-Adolescent Dyads in Canada

Intergenerational similitude of ethnic identification and ethnic identity is explored in Chinese mother-adolescent dyads (N = 118; n = 59 dyads) that immigrated to Canada since the birth of the adolescent. Findings reveal no significant patterns of similarity in processes of ethnic identification. Ethnic identity scores were positively correlated between mothers and daughters but not mothers and sons suggesting the importance of considering how gender socialization may be associated with the consolidation of ethnic group identity.