Foreign Credentials Research Articles

PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONALLY-EDUCATED ENGINEERS QUALIFICATIONS PILOT PROGRAM, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA

With increasing immigration to Canada, governments are urging professional regulatory bodies to develop new licensing pathways to recognize foreign credentials of immigrant professionals more quickly and effectively. The Internationally-Educated Engineers Qualification Pilot Program was developed in response to such pressures. The objectives of this primarily qualitative research study were to document and understand the experiences and perceptions of the international engineering graduates in three program cohorts and to apply the findings to program development and evaluation. Data were obtained through focus groups and follow-up questionnaires administered to three cohorts. Findings indicated that program strengths, which are also aligned with program objectives, include its recognition as a licensing pathway, emphasis on cultural integration, and labour market access. Findings led to the development of a comprehensive support structure for participants. Keywords: international engineering graduate; foreign credentials recognition; qualitative research.

Immigrants' integration and career development in the professional engineering workplace in the context of social and cultural capital

Canada increasingly relies on immigrant engineers to address engineering labour market shortages. However, immigrants identify formal recognition of foreign credentials, barriers to professional licensing and obtaining professional work experience as key challenges to their successful integration. Engineering employers similarly identify credentials recognition, related work experience and communication skills as the three key determinants of an immigrant's access to and success in the engineering workplace. The term ‘qualifications recognition’ refers to processes that address these challenges. This study followed 39 immigrant engineers during and after their participation in a university-based qualifications recognition program. Longitudinal data were collected from 2004 through 2009 from immigrant engineers and their workplace internship employers through focus group interviews, survey questionnaires and internship reports. The data were analyzed to explore the integration and career development of immigrant engineers in the engineering workplace, framing professional integration through a theory of human, social and cultural capital, and habitus. The findings suggest that the successful professional integration of immigrant engineers can be interpreted as the acquisition of multiple forms of capital and habitus.

Admission and Employment Criteria Discrepancies: Experiences of Skilled Immigrants in Toronto

This research contributes to our understandings of the employment experiences of skilled immigrants in Canada by complementing and expanding upon statistical findings from previously published studies. Through in-depth interviews with 35 skilled immigrants from Bangalore, India living in Toronto, Canada, findings indicate that migrants experience employment frustrations stemming directly from the discrepancy between admission criteria (foreign education and work experience) and employment criteria (Canadian education and work experience). After summarizing the statistical data on the non-recognition of foreign credentials, we conclude that among our sample of immigrants, frustrations stem not from credential discounting in and of itself, but from Canada’s point system for entry, which misleads these migrants about its existence and prevalence.

Barriers and paths to success

PurposeThis paper aims to examine perceived barriers and paths to success for Latin American immigrant professionals in the Canadian job market.Design/methodology/approachFindings are based on 20 semi‐structured interviews with Latin American graduates of Canadian MBA programs. Interviews were analyzed for emergent categories and common themes.FindingsDespite their strong educational backgrounds, participants perceived several challenges to their success in the Canadian workplace, specifically, language barriers, lack of networks, cultural differences and discrimination. They also identified factors that influenced their professional success in Canada, such as homophilious networks and their Latin American background.Research limitations/implicationsBy investigating stories of Latin American immigrant professionals, the study explores subjective views of immigration experiences and discrimination in this unique and rarely examined group. A larger sample will increase the confidence of the study's findings and future studies should examine dynamics of these issues over time.Originality/valueThis paper presents insight onto the labor market experiences and coping mechanisms of the currently understudied group of Latin American immigrant professionals in Canada. The study's qualitative approach enabled the examination of challenges experienced by immigrant professionals beyond those typically studied in this literature (e.g. devaluation of foreign credentials) and led to the finding that being Latin American can act both as a disadvantage in the form of discrimination and as an advantage as it differentiates immigrant professionals from other job seekers.

Difference, deficiency, and devaulation: Tracing the roots of non-recognition of foreign credentials for immigrant professionals in Canada

Many immigrant professionals experience devaluation and denigration of their prior learning and work experience after arriving in Canada. The roots of nonrecognition can be traced to the following. First, epistemological misperceptions of difference and knowledge lead to a belief that the knowledge of immigrant professionals, particularly those from Third World countries, is deficient,incompatible and inferior, hence invalid. Second, an ontological commitment to positivistic and universal measurement exacerbates the complexity of thisprocess. The juxtaposition of the misconceptions of difference and knowledge with positivism and liberal universalism forms a new head tax to exclude the undesirable and perpetuate oppression in Canada. Résumé Beaucoup de professionnels immigrants voient leurs expériences de travail et leurs connaissances professionnelles dévaluées et dénigrées lors de leur arrivéeau Canada. L’origine de la non-reconnaissance peut être attribuée aux raisons suivantes. Tout d’abord, il existe de fausses perceptions épistémologiques sur la différence et la connaissance conduisant à la conviction que les connaissances des professionnels immigrants, en particulier celles des pays du tiers monde, sont déficientes, incompatibles et inférieures, et donc invalides. Deuxièmement, un engagement ontologique au positiviste et et à la mesure universelle accentue la complexité de ce processus. La juxtaposition des idées fausses de la différence et de la connaissance avec le positivisme et l’universalisme libéral forme une nouvelle forme d’exclusion des «indésirables», perpétuant ainsi l’oppression au Canada.

Vulnerabilities of Highly Skilled Immigrants in Canada and the United States

Despite similar permanent status immigration categories (Economic, Family, and Refugee), the experiences of skilled immigrants in Canada and the United States are quite different. The point system used to select applicants for the Economic Class in Canada makes skilled immigrants vulnerable to a number of perils after the migrant lands. Foreign credentials and work experience are discounted by Canadian employers, who also impose a discriminatory income penalty on minorities. While previous cohorts of Economic Class migrants may have been warned of these perils via reliable migrant networks, new Canadian research suggests that recent cohorts have no such safety net. This article examines the economic integration experiences of Economic Class migrants in the United States in light of the Canadian experiences. The vulnerabilities reported in Canada do not appear to be transferable to the United States, because immigration policy in the US stresses pre-landing employment commitments via employer sponsorship. Accordingly, prospective Economic Class migrants to the United States do not migrate without first knowing how their credentials and “minority status” will affect employment opportunities. However, for the 85,000 skilled workers admitted to the United States on H-1B temporary visas each year, the perils noted in the Canadian experience are relevant, as are a number of additional concerns.

Governing through non/recognition: the missing ‘R’ in the PLAR for immigrant professionals in Canada and Sweden

Despite claims that prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) can act as a transformative social mechanism and a means of social inclusion, this study reports that PLAR has become a serious barrier to adult learning rather than a facilitator. Drawing from Foucault’s concept of governmentality, the study examines the difficulties that immigrant professionals have experienced in having their foreign credentials and work experience recognized in the contexts of Canada and Sweden. Using document analysis and interviews, the study analyses how PLAR has created a system of governing through technologies of power and technologies of the self which work as dividing practices in discounting and devaluating immigrants’ prior learning and work experience. The study concludes that PLAR has become a technical exercise and a governing tool rather than a form of social transformation.

Effective Foreign Credential Recognition Legislation: Give It Some Teeth

Effective Foreign Credential Recognition Legislation: Give It Some Teeth

The Role of Foreign Credentials and Ethnic Ties in Immigrants’ Economic Performance

The literature has identified foreign credential devaluations and the shifting origins of immigrants to non-European sources as two factors that explain why some immigrants earn more than others. This study uses data from the Ethnic Diversity Survey to see how foreign credentials affect immigrants’ earnings, and whether immigrants with disadvantaged foreign credentials may be able to use ethnic social capital to mitigate the negative effect. Substantial gross earnings disparities exist among immigrant men and women of different origins, but much difference is due to human capital variations and duration of work. The study produces three major findings. First, foreign credentials benefit majority member immigrants but penalize visible minority immigrants. Second, immigrant men and women who maintain weak ethnic ties earn more than their counterparts with strong ties, suggesting that the enabling capacity of social capital for immigrants has been overstated. Third, there is no evidence of ethnic social capital being able to mitigate the negative effect of a credential deficit.

Gendering migration flows: physicians and nurses in Portugal

PurposeThis article aims to explore the gendered dimensions of the heterogeneous path of non‐native graduates in nursing and medicine in the Portuguese National Health Service, including institutional factors like the process of credential recognition, the professional integration and internal labour market segmentation.Design/methodology/approachBiographical interviews with nurses and physicians (23 males and 35 females) from Spain and from some Eastern European countries who migrated to work in Portugal were conducted, and additionally semi‐structured interviews with 12 institutional participants to contextualise the experiential data.FindingsThe research highlights complex intersections between gender and the resources for action. Institutional conditions, like legal frameworks and the self‐regulatory mechanisms of the professions, and individual characteristics shape successful translation of foreign credentials into a new social and cultural context. The specific configurations may create gender traps that push women into low status professional segments and also new forms of inequality in the professions.Research limitations/implicationsThe development of successful professional action and agency in a socio‐culturally different health care labour market can be differentiated by gender, place of graduation and citizenship status. The factors identified in this small‐scale qualitative study would need further investigation.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight new demands for integration policies for foreign‐trained professionals, such as policies to promote equal opportunities for women and men in the workplace.Originality/valueThe article reinforces women as professional participants in the international migration process and examines the opportunities for successful integration.

The Impact of Policy on Somali Refugee Women in Canada

This paper explores the ways in which government policy and public discourse have operated to enhance and maintain the liminal status of Somali women refugees in Canada, and the ways in which Somali Canadian women have resisted these efforts in order to create meaning and a place for themselves and their families in North America. The policies and practices that obliged many Somali women to wait three to five years to apply for permanent residency status, Eurocentric definitions of the family that constrain family unification strategies, and economic marginalization due to lack of recognition of foreign credentials have had cumulative adverse effects on the health and well-being of Somali women in Canada.

Institutional Capital and Labour Devaluation: The Non-Recognition of Foreign Credentials in Germany

The non-recognition of foreign credentials channels many international migrants into occupations below their skill levels. I examine processes of credential devaluation among so-called Spätaussiedler who migrated from Eastern Europe to Germany. An empirical study, involving an interview survey of NGO administrators, government bureaucrats, and employers in Berlin, suggests that institutional processes of credential recognition are intertwined with cultural processes of distinction. The study illustrates how institutional labour market regulation links with forces of social reproduction and the cultural exclusion of migrants.

Labour market outcomes of immigrant and racial minority university graduates in Canada

Between 1986 and 1996 there has been a significant increase in the racial minority and immigrant populations of Canada and a very significant proportion of racial minorities are of immigrant origin. With the aging of the Canadian population and its persistently low fertility rates the success of the Knowledge Based Economy (KBE) is expected to depend on the economic integration of immigrant racial minorities. In this paper, we frame the discussion of economic integration from a social inequality perspective, and examine how fields of study (FOS) and education credentials impact the earnings of immigrant racial minorities. Our analysis indicates that, in all fields of study, the earnings of immigrant visible minorities, especially those who migrated at an older age to Canada with foreign credentials, are not commensurate with their education level. This suggests that the adjustment mechanisms that have been introduced to recognize the credentials of young adult racial minority immigrants and smooth their entry into the work force have been inadequate and/or ineffective.

“Brain Abuse”, or the Devaluation of Immigrant Labour in Canada

Many professional and skilled Canadian immigrants suffer from de‐skilling and the nonrecognition of their foreign credentials. Consequently, they are underrepresented in the upper segments of the Canadian labour market. Rather than accepting this devaluation of immigrant labour as a naturally occurring adjustment period, I suggest that regulatory institutions actively exclude immigrants from the upper segments of the labour market. In particular, professional associations and employers give preference to Canadian‐born and educated workers and deny immigrants access to the most highly desired occupations.Pierre Bourdieu's notion of institutionalised cultural capital and his views of the educational system as a site of social reproduction provide the entry point for my theoretical argument. I find that the nonrecognition of foreign credentials and dismissal of foreign work experience systematically excludes immigrant workers from the upper segments of the labour market. This finding is based on data from interviews with institutional administrators and employers in Greater Vancouver who service or employ immigrants from South Asia and the former Yugoslavia.

Decredentialization and Recredentialization: The Role of Governmental Intervention in Enhancing Occupational Status of Russian Immigrants in Israel in the 1990s

This article addresses the question of the impact of governmental retraining programs on immigrants’ occupational incorporation. It proposes that immigrants’ loss of occupational status relates to decredentialization resulting from their foreign credentials’ being devalued and proposes viewing participation in governmental retraining programs as a process of recredentialization. The findings indicate the important role government can play in enhancing the occupational status of immigrants through recredentialization. Nine hundred ten immigrants from the former Soviet Union to Israel in the 1990s were interviewed in 1992 and again in 1995 to examine the effect of their participation in retraining programs on occupational integration and improving earnings. The effects were studied for salaried immigrants. The findings are discussed in light of the institutional perspective and the theories of human capital, screening theory, and credentialism.

The Market Worth of Immigrants' Educational Credentials

Despite academic and policy interests on immigrants' credentials, their precise market worth is unclear. This study uses the 1996 Canadian Census microdata to compare the earnings for four groups: native-born Canadian degree-holders; immigrant Canadian degree-holders; immigrant mixed education degree-holders; and immigrant foreign degree-holders. The findings indicate that immigrants' credentials carry a penalty compared to those of native-born Canadians, and that a foreign degree affects visible-minority immigrants, women and men, more adversely than white Canadians; as well, credential holders' gender and race are also being evaluated. Policies to recognize foreign credentials will bridge some income disparities, but inequality premised upon gender and race will likely remain.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF STUDIES, DIPLOMAS, AND DEGREES AS SEEN FROM AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

The aim of this article is to describe the sources of information on foreign education systems and credentials by means of which the various higher education institutions of the United States reach decisions as to the admission of foreign students and the granting of equivalences for degrees earned abroad. The information is derived from a number of sources, particularly from such national volunteer and professional associations as the American Association of Collegiate Registrars (AACRAO) including a linkage which it maintains with the Agency for International Development (AID), the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials (The Council), the National [Association of Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA), the National Liaison Committee on Foreign Student Admissions (NLC), and the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). The article further explains how each of these organizations reaches decisions as to the value of given foreign credentials and makes its judgments and recommendations known to those who, in general, need this information, and to specific institutions which request specific information for specific purposes. In the final analysis, the organizations in question are purely advisory; the specific decisions with regard to specific students enrolled in specific higher education institutions are the sole purview of the institutions in question.

Establishing Academic Equivalencies

Few issues are so emotion laden and so subject to contradictory opinion as that of establishing equivalencies between academic degrees. The difficulties and frustrations often experienced when attempting to have credits transferred between institutions or, on occasion, even between colleges or schools of the same institution are usually compounded manyfold when it is a question of the validation and recognition by governmental and academic bodies of study abroad. Persons, goods, currencies, and ideas may flow unimpeded across frontiers; but foreign academic credentials, it seems, raise deep-seated issues of personal honor and national pride and tend not to be accepted at face value by host countries.

Evaluation of Foreign Credentials

Evaluation of Foreign Credentials

Evaluation of Foreign Credentials

Evaluation of Foreign Credentials