Barriers and Facilitators to Professional Licensure and Certification Testing in Canada: Perspectives of Internationally Educated Professionals

Testing is an essential component of professional licensure and certification, which serves as a powerful decision-making tool to include or exclude internationally educated professionals from their respective professions in Canada. This study examines the role that testing plays in professional licensure and certification from the perspectives of newly arrived internationally educated professionals (IEPs) in four professions: teachers, engineers, nurses, and medical doctors. The study was conducted in Kingston and Windsor, ON, Canada. Data were collected through face to face interviews. The findings indicate both internal and external factors are associated with the testing process which impact whether IEPs can continue to practice and can contribute to Canada’s long-term social and economic goals.     

Building a Self-Directed Process for the Development of Internationally Trained Professional Profiles in Canada

More and more internationally trained professionals (ITP) coming to Canada face challenges in getting credentials recognized by regulatory bodies and employers (Forum of Labour Market Ministers 2009; Ontario Office of the Fairness Commissioner 2011b). This leads to a high level of brain waste that recently has been estimated to cost Canada up to $3.4 billion per year (Evans, CGA Magazine 45(4): 26, 2011). This paper looks at some of the challenges regarding prior learning assessments and portfolio-building processes toward credential evaluation, and explains some of the reasons why the current system and tools are not meeting the needs of ITPs. In particular, postsecondary institutions and regulatory bodies’ processes toward preparing individuals for evaluation are compared, leading to a number of conclusions on commonality and future directions. The authors conclude with the proposal of a new generic online and modular professional profile model to better prepare ITPs for credential assessment. Such a model would be particularly useful for credentialing bodies with fewer resources available. It would also provide a common set of information to front-line agencies that support ITPs.     

Adaptation and Acculturation: Experiences of Internationally Educated Social Workers

Transnational mobility of internationally educated social workers has been on the rise for the past 20 years, with little empirical study regarding their experiences of professional adaptation. This paper contextualises and presents data from a study with 15 social workers who undertook their professional education outside Canada and have migrated to Canada within the past 10 years, regarding their professional acculturation and adaptation. The analysis focuses on elements that facilitated and mitigated their professional acculturation and the resulting adaptations participants have experienced in their practice in the Canadian context. The paper's discussion outlines the importance of a stronger grounding in professional values of social work in order to facilitate professional acculturation and adaptation of internationally educated social workers.     

Professional Issues of International Genetic Counseling Students Educated in the United States

International students have unique personal and academic challenges during their training in genetic counseling programs across the United States (U.S.). Previous research has explored their motivations and experiences; however, there is scant research on how their international status affects the post-graduate experience. The current study used semi-structured phone interviews to explore the professional issues that international students face throughout their educational and professional careers. Twenty-six participants were interviewed including international genetic counseling students in their second years of training and international genetic counselors who graduated from a U.S.-accredited program. Participants included six, second-year students, twelve genetic counselors employed in the U.S., six employed in Canada, and one employed in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Qualitative analysis of interviews captured the common experiences and challenges international students faced during their training and post-graduation. Participants stated that they applied to programs in the U.S. because there is wide transferability of qualifications across the world, and there is limited or no opportunities for masters level genetic counseling training in their home country. Most participants who had applied for jobs in the U.S. experienced difficulties regarding unfamiliarity of human resources (HR) departments and Border Control Officers with international genetic counselors (GCs) and their visa requirements. The results suggest that currently there are insufficient job resources tailored to international genetic counselors, and an inadequate availability of peer support. The results also speak to the need to develop resources for prospective international students and for international GCs seeking jobs, and establishment of a peer support network. These resources may also provide assistance to genetic counseling training programs and employers to address the challenges faced by international genetic counselors.     

Counselor Training in Canada: An Alberta Approach

This article examines the initiatives of the Alberta/Northwest Territories Region of Employment and Immigration Canada in the implementation and continuing development of employment counselor training within the context of changing economic conditions and policy changes. Initiatives have included innovative group approaches, a program of competence maintenance and enhancement, and the development of an accountability framework for employment counseling. Future directions for training are also examined.     

The Political Justification of Migrant Workers in Alberta,Canada

Considering a series of oil-driven economic booms, the use of inter-provincial and international migrant labour has become an important part of labour market policy in the Canadian province of Alberta. The increased use of temporary foreign workers is controversial. Narrative analysis of legislators’ statements in the legislature and the press between 2000 and 2011 reveals the government using three narratives to justify policies encouraging greater use of foreign migrant workers: (1) labour shortages require migrant workers, (2) migrants do not threaten Canadian jobs and (3) migrants are not being exploited. Close scrutiny of each narrative demonstrates them to be largely invalid. This suggests a significant disconnect between the real and espoused reasons for the significant changes to labour market policy, changes that advantage employers and disadvantage both Canadian and foreign workers. The findings are relevant to understand the political dynamics of economically related migration.     

Under Pressure to Change: The Professional Identity of Careers Officers

The professional identity of careers officers is no longer secure. Their role as independent providers of vocational guidance has been challenged and they have been urged to accord employers and placement a higher priority in their work. The resistance to such proposed changes encountered during a study of careers officers in Midtown appeared to be motivated more by a genuine concern for vulnerable clients than simple professional inertia or calculated self-interest. Any imposition of change could prove counter-productive and provoke a serious dislocation in the provision of vocational guidance.     

Additional validation of the attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale

To provide information on the construct validity of the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help scale, relationships between prior treatment experiences and scores on the scale were evaluated. Participants were 270 students recruited from undergraduate psychology courses at a medium-sized university in the midwestern USA. 79% were women: their ages ranged from 18 to 53 years (M= 19.0, SD=4.4). In addition to completing the scale, the subset of 76 participants who reported prior mental health care treatment also evaluated these experiences using a rating scale anchored by 0: very dissatisfied and 4: very satisfied. For the total sample, prior experience with the mental health care delivery system was associated with higher scores on the scale, denoting more positive attitudes. In the subgroup with prior treatment experience, evaluation ratings were also associated with treatment attitudes, accounting for 17% of the variance in their scale score. These results provide additional support for the construct validity of this scale.     

Self-Disclosure and Spiritual Well-Being in Pastors Seeking Professional Psychological Help

Pastoral mental health is a topic that has only rarely been researched empirically in the psychological literature, yet a pastor’s mental health can have a significant impact on churches, communities, and even nations (Royal and Thompson, Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 31(3), 195–204, 2012). One of the thoughts prompting this research is that evangelical pastors might be expected to resist the findings of psychological research and lack understanding of specific mental illnesses they are potentially facing. Combined with historical and cultural dynamics that could influence resistance to professional psychological help, evangelical pastors have personal, internal factors that could also strengthen resistance, including the researched issues of self-disclosure flexibility and spiritual well-being. A correlational research design with multivariate regression was used to determine potentially significant or predictive relationships between the relevant factors. Among evangelical seminary students (N = 251) preparing for parish-based pastoral ministry, this research determined that no significant relationship, predictive or otherwise, existed between self-disclosure flexibility, spiritual well-being, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Implications include a shift in focus toward external factors influencing pastors’ help-seeking attitudes, such as the need for the mental health community to develop connections with evangelical pastors and the development of more support for Christian mental health professionals in the larger evangelical community.     

Socio-Cultural Determinants of Physical Activity among Latin American Immigrant Women in Alberta,Canada

Acculturation has been associated with decreased physical activity among immigrants. This study assessed the process of changing physical activity patterns within the context of Latin American immigrant women’s migration experiences to Canada. Using the ecological model of health promotion, we applied a mixed methods research design. Thirty-six Latin American immigrant women, 18 recent (<10 years in Canada) and 18 non-recent (>10 years in Canada), participated. Six focus groups and 14 in-depth individual interviews were conducted. The Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire was administered. Overall, 86 % of the participants reported gaining weight since coming to Canada. Participants reported becoming more sedentary upon arriving in Canada. Only 27.3 % of recent and 41.7 % of non-recent immigrant women were considered sufficiently physically active. Lack of time, resources, social support, and migration stress were identified as key barriers to physical activity. Migration stress associated with social integration barriers strongly influence physical activity among Latin American immigrant women.     

Complicated Grief in Canada: Exploring the Client and Professional Landscape

Complicated grief (CG) is one of the central themes in bereavement research and advanced clinical practice today. Using a mixed-methods approach, we wanted to learn (a) what tools Canadian practitioners used to identify or diagnose CG and (b) what interventions or strategies they used to address CG. Sixty-three professionals responded to our survey. There were no straightforward answers to these questions: the state-of-the art of CG in Canada is, in fact, complicated. Practitioners used a wide assortment of tools and strategies with no consensus on any one approach or tool. Building a Canadian CG community of practice was recommended.     

Conceptualizing Professional Diaspora: International Medical Graduates in Canada

This paper applies the concept of diaspora to the analysis of the creation and maintenance of an ethnically diverse community of internationally educated medical graduates residing in Canada. Traditionally, the research on diaspora concerns ethnic communities that preserve their homeland ties while residing in foreign countries. We suggest, however, that ethnic roots are not imperative for the analysis of diasporic communities when other forms of shared values and meanings can become a basis for creation of collective identity. Reconfiguring both the homeland and host country as places of geographical and professional belonging provides opportunity to conceptualize an ethnically diverse group of immigrant physicians residing in Canada as professional diaspora. Probing the interviews with 67 international medical graduates living in Canada, we demonstrate (1) how they create medical diaspora, (2) what myths and sensitivities they share in constructing their professional and/or geographic homelands, and (3) the relationship they develop with their hosting society. We suggest that in spite of the increasing mobility of internationally educated health care providers, the analysis of professional diasporas could become a useful tool for analyzing complex relationships between home countries, hosting countries, and international travelers.     

Refugee pathways out of homelessness in urban Alberta,Canada: implications for social justice-oriented counselling

Although refugees flee their homelands in search of a better life, they often face continued displacement and homelessness after arrival in their host countries. This constructivist grounded theory study investigated pathways out of homelessness through interviews with a mixed sample of 19 adult refugees from Afghanistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Syria who had experienced short or long-term homelessness after their arrival in Canada and who were subsequently adequately settled for at least 6 months. Data analysis yielded a theoretical framework consisting of four interrelated pathways for exiting the cycle of homelessness: (a) drawing on religiosity to replace the lack of one’s own physical dwelling with a virtual spiritual shelter, promoting resilience in dealing with housing obstacles; (b) creative problem-solving to move up the income ladder to make housing affordable; (c) crying out for help and stumbling on a housing advocate; and (d) engaging in self-advocacy. Social justice-oriented counselling with refugees can facilitate satisfaction of their basic needs after migration in order to realize their fundamental human right to access safe shelter.     

Careers guidance in the knowledge society

In modern society individuals are becoming responsible for their own work allocation. They have to acquire so-called 'actor competences'. They have to learn to form their own identity, to determine a direction and to plan a career. However, the individual's shortage of actor competences confronts him or her with many problems; several institutions risk becoming overburdened by allocation or career problems. As a result, the role of the career counsellor must change from that of a ferryman to that of a pathfinder.     

Reinvigorating the Study of Careers

Before discussing how to innovate the study of career development using insights from life-span psychology and life course sociology, researchers might benefit from reconsidering whether they are studying careers or studying vocational behavior. While the word “career” seems ubiquitous in vocational psychology research, there are important differences between the study of vocational behavior, occupational roles, and career development. In this article, I urge researchers to (a) reconsider the meaning of career and research on career development, (b) adopt prospective, longitudinal research designs, and (c) concentrate first on processes of development and then on the content of careers. Considering these suggestions may ready vocational psychology for true innovations such as studying human development through work and relationships.     

Licensure in the helping professions: anatomy of an issue

The licensing of psychologists is not generally a concern of counselors, counselor educators, or supervisors. However, with the enactment of new licensing laws such as the one described here, an issue is emerging that members of the counseling professions should not leave unattended. Through ignorance or complacency, we may contribute to the demise of the counseling professions as self-regulating groups. The authors examine this matter here and offer some recommendations for action.     

Counselor Awareness of the Consequences of Certification and Licensure

In the decade since professional counselor regulation was widely debated, more than half of the states have legislated regulation, and it is sought in others. The extent to which counselors in a state currently pursuing legislation are familiar with potential consequences of legislated regulation was examined. Most counselors were found to be unfamiliar with potential negative consequences of regulation, and most were desirous of more information regarding these issues. Implications of the findings for the profession are presented.     

Fears about Seeking Therapeutic Help: The Effect of Sex of Subject, Sex of Professional, and Title of Professional

96 subjects were asked to imagine that they had gone to their GP for help with an emotional problem. The subjects were further asked to imagine that the GP had referred them to either a male or female counsellor, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. Whilst in role, subjects were asked to rate their concern about 15 possible fears of therapy, and to indicate their preference for a male or female therapist. There was little support for the hypothesis that female subjects would have lower fear ratings than male subjects. Equivocal support was found for the hypothesis that there would be an overall preference for female therapists. Results partially supported the hypothesis that fear ratings would be highest with respect to psychiatrists; the interaction of the sex of subject and the title of professional variables indicated that this was particularly so when the psychiatrist was female. The implications for counselling are briefly discussed, with regard to preparing clients for therapy.     

MacIntyre and the Idea of an Educated Public

Some years ago, 1985, Alasdair MacIntyre wrote a paper onThe Idea of an Educated Public in which he argued that the only route open for educators for the future, in order to emerge out of the current moral crisis created by the emotivist modernist culture is to bring back the idea of an educated public from the Scottish Enlightenment and to regard education as education into such a public. The notion of an educated public, in effect, reappears also in all his later books on moral philosophy, particular his latest,Three Rival Theories of Moral Enquiry, where he takes up his original proposal that educated publics should grow around universities and canvasses the new idea that under contemporary conditions what we may need is not one universal university but three kinds contextualized within the three rival kinds of cultural and moral programmes he identifies, and, correspondingly, three kinds of educated public. This paper tries to trace the evolution of MacIntyre's idea of an educated public throughout his work, (1) arguing that there is one particular perspective on the idea which he strangely omits, that represented by Dewey/Habermas, and (2) critiquing his final solution on the basis of its possibility and political desirability.