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Article
Publication date: 18 April 2024

Amrita Hari, Luciara Nardon and Dunja Palic

Educational institutions are investing heavily in the internationalization of their campuses to attract global talent. Yet, highly skilled immigrants face persistent labor market…

Abstract

Purpose

Educational institutions are investing heavily in the internationalization of their campuses to attract global talent. Yet, highly skilled immigrants face persistent labor market challenges. We investigate how immigrant academics experience and mitigate their double precarity (migrant and academic) as they seek employment in higher education in Canada.

Design/methodology/approach

We take a phenomenological approach and draw on reflective interviews with nine immigrant academics, encouraging participants to elaborate on symbols and metaphors to describe their experiences.

Findings

We found that immigrant academics constitute a unique highly skilled precariat: a group of professionals with strong professional identities and attachments who face the dilemma of securing highly precarious employment (temporary, part-time and insecure) in a new academic environment or forgoing their professional attachment to seek stable employment in an alternate occupational sector. Long-term, stable and commensurate employment in Canadian higher education is out of reach due to credentialism. Those who stay the course risk deepening their precarity through multiple temporary engagements. Purposeful deskilling toward more stable employment that is disconnected from their previous educational and career accomplishments is a costly alternative in a situation of limited information and high uncertainty.

Originality/value

We bring into the conversation discussions of migrant precarity and academic precarity and draw on immigrant academics’ unique experiences and strategies to understand how this double precarization shapes their professional identities, mobility and work integration in Canadian higher education.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 September 2021

Hui Zhang, Luciara Nardon and Greg J. Sears

Various forms of precarious employment create barriers to the integration and inclusion of migrant workers in receiving countries. The purpose of this paper is to review extant…

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Abstract

Purpose

Various forms of precarious employment create barriers to the integration and inclusion of migrant workers in receiving countries. The purpose of this paper is to review extant research in employment relations and management to identify key factors that contribute to migrant workers' precarious employment and highlight potential avenues for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a narrative literature review drawing on 38 academic journal articles published between 2005 and 2020.

Findings

The authors’ review suggests that macro- and meso-level factors contribute to the precarious employment conditions of migrant workers. However, there is a limited articulation of successful practices and potential solutions to reduce migrant work precarity and exclusion. The literature on migrant workers' precarious employment experience is primarily focused on low-skilled sector (e.g. agriculture, hospitality, domestic care) jobs. In addition, few studies have explored the role of worker characteristics, such as gender, class, ethnicity, race and migration status, in shaping the experience of migrant workers in precarious employment.

Practical implications

The results of this research highlight the importance of engaging multilevel actors in addressing migrant employment precarity, including policymakers, employers and employment agencies.

Originality/value

This research contributes to a growing conversation of migrant employment precarity by highlighting the heterogeneity of migrant groups and calling for the use of intersectional lenses to understand migrant workers' experiences of precarious employment.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 41 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 June 2021

Luciara Nardon, Amrita Hari, Hui Zhang, Liam P.S. Hoselton and Aliya Kuzhabekova

Despite immigrant-receiving countries' need for skilled professionals to meet labour demands, research suggests that many skilled migrants undergo deskilling, downward career…

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite immigrant-receiving countries' need for skilled professionals to meet labour demands, research suggests that many skilled migrants undergo deskilling, downward career mobility, underemployment, unemployment and talent waste, finding themselves in low-skilled occupations that are not commensurate to their education and experience. Skilled immigrant women face additional gendered disadvantages, including a disproportionate domestic burden, interrupted careers and gender segmentation in occupations and organizations. This study explores how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic impacted skilled newcomer women's labour market outcomes and work experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw on 50 in-depth questionnaires with skilled women to elaborate on their work experiences during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

The pandemic pushed skilled immigrant women towards unemployment, lower-skilled or less stable employment. Most study participants had their career trajectory delayed, interrupted or reversed due to layoffs, decreased job opportunities and increased domestic burden. The pandemic's gendered nature and the reliance on work-from-home arrangements and online job search heightened immigrant women's challenges due to limited social support and increased family responsibilities.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the conversation of increased integration challenges under pandemic conditions by contextualizing the pre-pandemic literature on immigrant work integration to the pandemic environment. Also, this paper contributes a better understanding of the gender dynamics informing the COVID-19 socio-economic climate.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 February 2023

Dunja Palic, Luciara Nardon and Amrita Hari

The authors answer calls for research on the experiences of international professionals' career transitions by investigating how highly skilled immigrants make sense of their…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors answer calls for research on the experiences of international professionals' career transitions by investigating how highly skilled immigrants make sense of their career changes in the host country's labor market.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors report on a qualitative, inductive and elaborative study, drawing on sensemaking theories and career transitions literature and nine semi-structured reflective interviews with highly skilled Canadian immigrants.

Findings

The authors identified four career change narratives: mourning the past, accepting the present, recreating the past and starting fresh. These narratives are made sense of in a transnational context: participants contended with tensions between past, present and future careers and between relevant home and host country factors affecting their career decisions. Participants who were mourning the past or recreating the past identified more strongly with their home country professions and struggled to find resources in Canada. In accepting the present and starting fresh, participants leveraged host country networks to find career opportunities and establish themselves and their families in the new environment.

Originality/value

A transnational ontology emphasizes that immigrants' lives are multifaceted and span multiple national contexts. The authors highlight how the tensions between the home and host country career contexts shape immigrants' sensemaking narratives of their international career change. The authors encourage scholars and practitioners to take a transnational contextual approach (spatial and temporal) to guide immigrants' career transitions and integration into the new social environment.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 September 2007

Luciara Nardon and Richard M. Steers

Developing successful relationships with people from different cultures is challenging by definition. Several reasons account for this, including people's tendencies to have…

Abstract

Developing successful relationships with people from different cultures is challenging by definition. Several reasons account for this, including people's tendencies to have preconceived notions about how the world works (or should work), how individuals behave (or should behave), and which behaviors are acceptable (or unacceptable). These ideas are largely influenced by our personal experiences and the cultures in which we grew up. We tend to approach intercultural interactions based on our own perceptions, beliefs, values, biases, and misconceptions about what is likely to happen (Kluckhohn, 1954; Geertz, 1973; Hofstede, 1980, 1991; Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998; Schneider & Barsoux, 2003; Steers & Nardon, 2006). As a result, when we engage in exchanges with people from different cultures we often find that the consequences of our actions are different from what we expected or intended (Adler, 2002). The results can range from embarrassment to insult to lost business opportunities.

Details

The Global Mindset
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1402-7

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2008

Susana Costa e Silva and Luciara Nardon

This chapter is part of a research project examining the role of culture and culture differences in foreign partnerships. We build on prior research on culture distance to explore…

Abstract

This chapter is part of a research project examining the role of culture and culture differences in foreign partnerships. We build on prior research on culture distance to explore the influence of perceptions of cultural differences on perceived relational risk. Perceived relational risk is defined here as the degree of satisfaction of being involved in business activities with nationals of a given country. Contrary to expectations, our analysis suggests that cultural differences are sometimes perceived as a desirable characteristic and may be associated with lower relational risk. We speculate that culture distance is an asymmetric construct in which the perception of a cultural difference may be interpreted as positive or negative depending on the perspective from which the reading is made and the nature of the task in which the perception is formed.

Details

New Perspectives in International Business Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-279-1

Book part
Publication date: 26 January 2022

Joyce S. Osland

Betina Szkudlarek, a highly valued member of the editor team of Advances in Global Leadership (volumes 12–14) is resigning, to our regret, to dedicate more time to her work with…

Abstract

Betina Szkudlarek, a highly valued member of the editor team of Advances in Global Leadership (volumes 12–14) is resigning, to our regret, to dedicate more time to her work with refugees. Based on her keynote speech at the 2021 ION meeting, the interview demonstrates how scholars can make a tangible contribution to today's highly complex problems that go beyond our research findings. Betina explains the impact of COVID-19 on migrants and refugees and provides examples by various stakeholders. She also describes how her research expanded into partnerships with multiple governments, corporations, and service organizations. Betina is a wonderful example of a scholar-practitioner who is willing to research grand challenges and also make extensive practical contributions to resolving them.

Betina is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Sydney Business School. She publishes on the topics of cross-cultural competence, intercultural communication, and international transitions. She is a Strategic, Sustainability and Growth Consultant with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, where she works with the recipients of the UNAOC's and BMW Group's Intercultural Innovation Awards.

Book part
Publication date: 12 September 2007

Mansour Javidan, Richard M. Steers and Michael A. Hitt

The authors of the various chapters in this book have approached the concept of global mindset from diverse perspectives and have defined it differently. Levy et al. in this…

Abstract

The authors of the various chapters in this book have approached the concept of global mindset from diverse perspectives and have defined it differently. Levy et al. in this volume define global mindset as a highly complex cognitive structure distinguished by an openness to and expression of multiple cultural and strategic realities on both global and local levels and the cognitive capacity to moderate and assimilate across this diversity. More specifically, global mindset is typified by three corresponding dimensions: (1) an openness and attentiveness to multiple realms of action and meaning, (2) a complex representation and expression of cultural and strategic dynamics, and (3) a moderation and incorporation of ideals and actions oriented toward both global and local levels (Chapter 1 of this volume). At the core of their definition is the awareness of and openness to multiple realities, meanings, and perspectives.

Details

The Global Mindset
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1402-7

Book part
Publication date: 12 September 2007

Michael A. Hitt, Mansour Javidan and Richard M. Steers

Because of the importance of a global mindset from both a theoretical and a practical point of view, there is need to examine this construct further to understand its contents…

Abstract

Because of the importance of a global mindset from both a theoretical and a practical point of view, there is need to examine this construct further to understand its contents, how it is developed, when and how it should be applied, and what its consequences are. Thus, we invited a select group of scholars to develop chapters on specific aspects of this topic to help build a volume accomplishing these goals. Our aim here was to invite the foremost thinkers and writers on this topic.

Details

The Global Mindset
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1402-7

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2008

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer, who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

The paper fidns that “Some people just never learn” and “Will they ever learn?” are among those expressions of exasperation usually uttered when someone has caused trouble or pain by ignoring the lessons of previous mistakes.

Practical implications

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.

Details

Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, vol. 22 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7282

Keywords

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