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

Bibliographic Data

ID12973405
AuthorsMarcia Friesen (0000-0001-8498-2125, University of Manitoba, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume3
Issue2
Pages79-100
Publication date2011-05-26
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEngineering Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1937-8629 • E-ISSN: 1940-8374
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19378629.2011.571260
OpenAlexW1973246212
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited14

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. Keywords: engineering workplaceimmigrationqualifications recognitionhuman capitalsocial capitalcultural capital Notes 1Engineers Canada, IAMA/AIT Summary. 2CCPE, From Consideration to Integration; Statistics Canada, Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants. 3CCPE, From Consideration to Integration; Canadian Labour and Business Centre, Perspectives on Immigration. 4Reitz, "Immigrant Skill Utilization," 351; Thompson, Immigrant Occupational Skill Outcomes, 1. 5 http://apegm.mb.ca/BecomingAQ.html 6Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, Mapping Canadian University Capacity. 7Friesen and Britton, Conceptual Framework; Friesen and Britton, Assessment and Evaluation Framework; Friesen, Perceptions and Experiences. 8Friesen, Participant Outcomes, Perceptions, and Experiences. 9Bourdieu, "Forms of Capital," 248. 10Metz and Tharenou, "Women's Career Advancement." 11Bourdieu, "Forms of Capital," 248. 12Portes, "Social Capital." 13Fukuyama, Social Capital. 14Goulding, "Libraries and Cultural Capital," 235. 15DiMaggio, "Cultural Capital," 168. 16Bourdieu, "Forms of Capital." 17Ibid. 18Ibid. 19Wildhagen, "Capitalizing on Culture," 521. 20Bourdieu, "Forms of Capital." 21Becker, Human Capital. 22Bourdieu, "Forms of Capital." 23Wildhagen, "Capitalizing on Culture," 521. 24Portes, "Social Capital." 25Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice, 95. 26DiMaggio, "Social Stratification." 27Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice. 28Devine-Eller, Rethinking Bourdieu on Race. 29Girard and Bauder, "Assimilation and Exclusion," 36. 30Friesen, "The Development of an Engineering Qualifications Recognition Program." 31Bogdan and Biklen, Qualitative Research for Education. 32Countries of origin, in descending order, are India (6), Argentina (5), Pakistan (4), China and Colombia (three each), Russia, Ukraine, and Macedonia (two each), and Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Cuba, Trinidad, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Iran, Ethiopia, and Nigeria (one each). 33Bogdan and Biklen, Qualitative Research for Education. 34Krueger, Focus Groups. 35Lincoln and Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry. 36Friesen, Participant Outcomes, Perceptions, and Experiences. 37Laroche, Managing Cultural Diversity. 38Portes, "Social Capital." 39Friesen, "The Development of an Engineering Qualifications Recognition Program." 40Portes, "Social Capital." 41Ibid. 42Girard and Bauder, "Assimilation and Exclusion

Context (archaeology · Cultural capital · Economic growth · Economics · Habitus · Immigration · Internship · Pedagogy · Political science · Professional development · Public relations · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Higher Education and Employability · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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