Upward Mobility Among Second Generation Caribbeans Living in Toronto

Synopsis

This research has examined the employment experiences and mobility of second-generation Caribbean men and women who completed post secondary schooling in Canada. The findings suggest that second-generation Caribbean-origin men and women have adapted to Canada according to a segmented assimilation model. For the most part this has meant becoming aculturated into a white middle class lifestyle while at the same time maintaining elements of Caribbean culture. New meanings, ideologies and patterns of behavior have developed among second generation Caribbeans in response to conditions and circumstances they encounter in their new "home". From our data some tentative conclusions can be drawn about second generation Caribbeans with post secondary schooling qualifications. These include: (a) experiences with institutional and systemic discrimination in the Canadian workplace operate as barriers to graining employment; (b) a promotional "glass-celing"exists which prevents individuals from reaching their potential or achieving their aspirations; (c) post-secondary education provides women with more mobility opportunities than it does men; and (d) ethnicity (African compared to South Asian) and skin color are important factors which regulate how much discrimination an individual is likely to encounter in Canada.

Summary of Research Results

The principal aim of this research was to examine the employment experiences and mobility of second generation Caribbean men and women who completed post secondary schooling in Canada. Primarily, the purpose of the research was to determine if being ACanadianized@ and having qualifications were the key ingredients for second generation Caribbeans to overcome the systemic and institutional barriers of discrimination that their parents faced when they first tried to get good jobs in the Canadian workforce. We used the 1991 Canadian Census and a non-random survey of Caribbeans in Toronto (n=328) to provide a general statistical profile of the achievements of this particular group. In addition, we used life-history interviews with 50 second generation Caribbean-origin men and women. This qualitative approach has yielded much needed new data about the employment experiences and mobility for the second generation who have completed post-secondary schooling in Toronto. More specifically, at this preliminary stage in our analysis the following broad and tentative observations can be made.

Although second generation Caribbeans have post secondary schooling many reported that they are facing institutional and structural barriers of discrimination that prevent them from obtaining Agood jobs@ in the Canadian workforce.

Many interviewees reported that a "glass ceiling" for promotion exists in the Canadian work place and it is especially difficult for them as non-whites to penetrate the invisible barrier.

The experiences in the workforce for men are quite different than it is for women. Men reported that co-workers were often hostile towards them and that they were regarded as being a threat. As a result some of the men felt that they worked in a chilly climate which made them not enjoy their work environment.

Post secondary education seems to give a better payoff to Caribbean-origin women in terms of mobility and prestige than men. The men reported greater levels of frustrations in obtaining jobs commensurate with their schooling, qualifications and experience.

The work experiences seem to be different also based on ethnicity and skin color. African Caribbeans reported much higher incidents of systemic and institutionalized discrimination than did South Asian or mixed ethnicity Caribbeans. Skin color also seemed to be an important determinant of success in the Canadian workforce. Lighter skinned individuals reported much less difficulties in the workplace or in Canadian society as a whole.

Age seemed to play an important part in the amount of discrimination that individuals reported in the Canadian workplace. Older individuals reported higher incidents of workplace discrimination which ranged from racist name calling at work; being overlooked for promotion; being subjected to racist jokes in the workplace; and not being treated the same by the boss.

In order to cope with the frustrations of blocked mobility in Canada a large number of the second generation interviewees reported that they had developed coping strategies which involved redefining, or reorganizing their situation in order to deal with the frustrations of life in Canada.

(a) Some went back to school to obtain more qualifications in the hope that this would work in their favor and help them to obtain promotions they might have been denied.

(b) Some adopted a never give up philosophy.

(c) Some sought innovative ways around barriers rather than trying to break these barriers down.

(d) The family both immediate and transnational seems to provide a major support for second generation Caribbeans who find disappointments in the Canadian workplace

(e) The church was identified as an important institution that provides mental strength for the day to day disappointments in Canada.

The mobility strategies which the men and women in this study put in place are varied. Some of the strategies included: coming to terms with Canada being a racist society and then working from there; becoming mentally strong; working twice as hard to gain recognition; becoming part of the social networks in Canada; becoming involved in entrepreneurial adventures which includes starting their own businesses; or looking towards remigration to other countries as an opportunity to get access to better employment options. Overall, the mobility strategies initiated in the Canada allowed the men and women to actively respond, manage, manipulate and control whatever new circumstance confronted them.

Survey Data Findings

A survey questionnaire was created and copies were distributed in the community with the help of the Jamaican Canadian Association, Caribbean newspapers, radio stations and community people. It was therefore, not a random sample but we felt that it adequately represented the population we were interested in finding out about --namely the children of immigrants who had gone on to complete post-secondary schooling. We distributed 500 questionnaires and by our cut-off date of January 1^st 1998, we had received 328 replies. Of these, 82 percent had completed some post-secondary schooling. The survey covered: work experience; satisfaction with work; career aspirations; opinions about equity in the workplace; opinions about life in Canada and background characteristics.

Among the 328 respondents, 59 percent were female and 41 percent were male. Only 8 percent had been born in Canada, but a large proportion arrived as children, so that 87 percent have Canadian citizenship. We limit the highlights below to some of the experiences in the workplace and in Canada in general.

In The Workplace

Of those in the labor force, 29 percent had been unemployed in the past five years and 15 percent had reported being laid off in the past five years. Few of our respondents reported that they found a new job via "official" government job assistance agencies, 40 percent reported relying on their own initiative and a further 31 percent used friend, family and kin networks to find work. Just over half (51 percent) of our respondents were working in the service sector as teachers or in social and community services.

In the workplace our respondents reported that they experienced various levels of overt and covert acts of discrimination. Just over a quarter (24 percent) reported having experienced "racist name calling". Over 40 percent reported that they felt overlooked for promotion because of their race or ethnicity. Just under a half had been exposed to "racist jokes" being told by co-workers or superiors while in their presence. As many as half (50 percent) did not feel that their boss treated them equally. Just over 25 percent felt that they were being discriminated against at work because of their place of birth.

In Canada

With respect to life in Canada, our respondents provided a very optimistic picture about their own future. Only a fifth (22 percent) felt that race relations in Canada were getting worse. More than three quarters (78 percent) were satisfied or very satisfied with Toronto as a place to live . Over two-thirds (66 percent) felt that Toronto was a good place to raise children and significantly less than one third of our respondents (32 percent) wanted to return to the Caribbean if it was possible tomorrow . What was particularly significant about the respondents views about life in Canada was that well over half (56 percent) felt that the police treat African Caribbeans with less respect than they do other ethnic groups. Furthermore, 57 percent of the respondents felt that Black men were the most vulnerable to discrimination in Canada compared to any other group. A new issue which seems to have emerged from our data is that Caribbean people are afraid when crossing international borders because they tend to experience a significant amount of harassment from customs and immigration officers who seem to be selective in their treatment of non-white landed immigrants or Canadian citizens. .

Quantitative Data

The quantitative approach has confirmed existing information as well as yielded some interesting new data about the mobility of Caribbeans in Canada. This includes such facts as:

(1) A much lower proportion of females than males work in manual occupations (females are highly concentrated in clerical and service occupations).

(2) Twelve percent of Canadian-born males of Caribbean-origin are more likely to be employed in manual occupations than non-visible minorities.

(3) Females are consistently earning less money than males.

(4) Dominant group members in Canada tend to earn higher average incomes than minority group members. This difference is however, less acute among females than males.

(5) Except in the case of foreign-educated females, Caribbeans tend to have the highest proportions of unemployment.

(6) In all cases, non-visible minorities have the lowest proportions of unemployed.

Research Outputs

1998 Paper was presented by Professor Clifford Jansen at the Metropolis Education Research Forum (MERF). Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) at the University of Ottawa, May 29, 1998. This presentation has been posted to the Web and can be consulted at: http://www.canada.metropolis.globalx.net/events/merf/Jansenmerf.html1.

1998 Lecture given by Professor Carl James at an International Women’s Day Forum. Jamaica Canadian Association. The forum was organized by the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, March 28, 1998. Title: "Black Women and Men Building a Community Based on Equality".

1998 Key note speech by Professor Carl James at the Alliance Insurance Brokers Ltd. Annual Awards Ceremony, February 20, 1998

1998 Paper presented by Professor Dwaine Plaza at the Caribbean Studies Association meetings,

Antigua. May 26, 1998 Paper title: AGlobal Wanderers: Second Generation Caribbeans Continuing

to Pursue the Mobility Dream"

1997 Saeed Hydralli A graduate student working on the project presented preliminary findings at the Joint Center meeting in Montreal. November 1997.

Future Dissemination activities

The Caribbean Studies Association Conference in May 1999 ( Panama City) (Panel being organized on the 2^nd generation of Caribbeans in the international diaspora).

Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences Conference in June 1999 (Paper to be presented on mobility for 2^nd generation Caribbeans in Canada)

The British Caribbean Association Meetings in July 1999 (Warwick) (Paper to be presented on a comparison of the mobility strategies used by Caribbeans in Canada and Britain).

A book contract is currently being negotiated with Fernwood Publishing Company. Preliminary correspondence has been promising. We include in the appendix the most recent FAX letter from the Editor of the company. The book will be titled: Despite the Odds: Caribbeans in Southern Ontario

The Center for Migration Studies (New York) has been in contact with Professor Jansen. They are interested in having the team submit an article based on our research for one of their upcoming special issues of the International Migration Review Journal.

Considerations for Policy Development

The study does point to the need for government policy makers to take notice of the particular discrimination faced by Black and South Asian Caribbean-born people with post secondary schooling.

The Federal Government of Canada needs to be more assertive with employment equity legislation as a means of addressing discrimination in the workplace. It also needs to establish incentives for private companies who introduce employment equity policies.

The Provincial Government of Ontario needs to make a commitment to employment equity programs and to re-introduce employment equity legislation.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission needs to be given more support by the government. This includes the passing of tougher legislation which allows the Commission to levy stiffer fines or sanctions against companies or organizations found in violation of human rights.

Newspaper editors need to be more vigilant in terms of decisions about how news stories get reported about minority groups in Canada. The past practice of sensationalizing newspaper stories by printing the accused race, place of birth or ethnicity needs to be rethought since this does nothing more than to divide the Canadian population along racial or ethnic lines and contributes to the criminalization of non-whites.

The private sector in Canada needs to become more proactive in putting in place hiring practices which work towards eliminating such practices as word of mouth hiring, or only hiring graduates from certain universities in Canada.

The police need to make more of an effort to improve their operating procedures, policies and practices when dealing with Caribbeans in Canada. This involves eliminating such practices as selective surveillance, overt harassment and provocation.

Canadian immigration and customs officials need to be sensitized so that they come to recognize that Caribbean-origin people are Canadian citizens who should be accorded all rights and respect that this title carries. Selective harassment of flights originating in Caribbean countries like Jamaica, Trinidad or Guyana is an insult to Caribbean Canadians returning.

Teachers, Principals and Guidance Counselors at the primary and secondary levels need to be vigilant in their efforts to encourage Caribbean-origin students to pursue post-secondary schooling as a means for achieving mobility in Canada.

Research Collaboration

Since this project began a number of international and local collaborators have been supportive. In Great Britain there is currently an ongoing Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project entitled: Living Arrangements, Family Structure and Social Change of Caribbeans in Britain. The project is exploring similar themes and is led by Professors Mary Chamberlain and Harry Goulbourne. The results obtained from our project are now being used for a larger comparative analysis of the second generation in Great Britain.

On the Canadian side, community support for our project has been overwhelming. The first stage of the project was written up in a number of local community newspapers (see appendices). Locating individuals to complete the questionnaire or as participants to be interviewed was facilitated by the publicity received in the above media, as well as by the fact that many people volunteered from within the Caribbean community. Some of the volunteers went to great lengths to distribute and collect surveys.

Strong support also came from our community collaborators. The Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA). The executive director of the JCA Debbie Headley, was instrumental in helping to locate research subjects, as well as, distributing and collecting questionnaires.

Training Opportunities

This project provided training opportunities for two males and one female graduate student in the Department of Sociology and the Faculty of Education at York University. The graduate students received training in questionnaire design, interviewing technique, census data interpretation, presenting at national conferences, working with community groups, and academic writing. An undergraduate student at Ryerson Polytechnic University was also used for library research and survey distribution. A high school student was trained for questionnaire coding and data input. In addition, the data set and questionnaire were used in the teaching of undergraduate research methods classes both at York University and Oregon State University. Four students at York University went on to use part of the data set for the presentation of their final research paper.

Appendices

Copy of Newspaper Coverage of the project

Copy of the letter from Fernwood Publishing Company

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