Two dollars and eighty cents Canadian.

This is the difference in the hourly wage of an immigrant Canadian with a degree and a ‘non-immigrant’ Canadian of equal qualifications and training.

Career Success of Immigrant Professionals: Stock and Flow of Their Career Capital

A new study that has appeared in the International Journal of Manpower says a non-immigrant professional would get about $ 30.10 an hour while an immigrant professional with the same qualifications that includes Canadian workplace training, will earn 27.30 an hour.

One of the critical conclusions of the study, that was co-authored by academics from Canada’s York University and University of Mississippi in the USA, is that there is more than just workplace training and development for a person’s career development.

It Is Not Just Training

The study found that while both immigrant and non-immigrant employees undergo the same type of training funded by their employers, it is a different story when it comes getting higher salaries, promotions or even increased job satisfaction. Immigrant professionals score low in all these sectors.

The study points out to one factor as a potential reason for this situation: lack of ‘cultural fluency’. This would include language limitation, including possibly the lack of experience in ‘Canadian English’, and the cultural difference in the education and training many immigrants have had.

For example, corporate cultures that emphasis on teamwork would be a stumbling block because while Canadian-born professionals have had this type of training and experience through their schools and later universities, the educational system in countries from where these immigrants come are different, the study points out.

By extension, therefore, while it is a good that for training is available for everyone, the training manuals have to take into account the cultural differences of employees.

Role of Biases and Stereotypes

Finally, the study does not discount that cultural biases and stereotypes can also play a role in denying immigrant professionals the rightful place in the workplace but this is something the study did not take into account.

But there is one interesting fact the study points out: immigrant/minority-friendly companies out-perform the Fortune-500 companies.

A number of studies have also pointed out how countries like Canada are losing billions of dollars by not utilising the experience of immigrants appropriately.

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