HARD WORKING BUT HARDLY WORKING: A CASE STUDY OF KOREAN SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN THE CANADIAN LABOUR MARKET

Abstract

The dominant discourse in Korea is that Canada is a multicultural country wherein no racial discrimination exists. This significantly contributes to making Canada their first choice of destination. The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers faced by Korean skilled immigrants in the Canadian labour. This thesis presents the findings of a qualitative study. Six participants were interviewed, who have lived in Canada for at least three, and using a semi-structured interview guide. Interviews were conducted in Korean, transcribed and later translated for analysis. Critical Race Theory and Democratic Racism were used as theoretical frameworks. This informed a critical review of major theoretical concepts, data collection and analysis. The findings indicate that structural exclusion was a significant barrier faced by the participants. Structural exclusion includes lack of recognition of international knowledge; conventional hiring practice in Canada; accented English; and settlement services not meeting the needs of skilled immigrants. Also, it was found that as their state of unemployment or underemployment continued for a long time, they experienced loss of identity and low self-esteem. Furthermore, how they respond to such exclusion was too a significant finding. While some of the participants sought to take additional Canadian education in order to overcome the barriers, others gave up efforts to integrate into the mainstream or were planning to go back to Korea.