Recognition and usability of foreign qualifications and competences in the Canadian labour market: analysis of status quo as well as methods, decision rationales and reference points of recruiting

加拿大社会的特点是移民众多。加拿大的移民政策和相应的承认办法与经济标准以及教育、技能和资格密切相关。该项目的目的是了解移居加拿大的移民如何在实际职业中使用他们的外国资格和能力。这项研究将使用回归模型对PIAAC的数据进行定量分析，以调查人力资本理论和证书理论的假设在多大程度上适用于加拿大移民劳动力市场。数量分析将比较移民和国内人口--关于技能利用不足和薪酬不平等的现象。此外，将在加拿大企业中进行定性案例研究，以确定雇主和其他利益攸关方在做出关于外国资格和能力认可的决定时所采用的途径和方法。将对这些决定的基本原则和参考点以及所考虑的信息进行调查。此外，还审查了采用不同方针和方法的根本原因及其与业务要求的关系。关于个人，分析的重点是移民如何向雇主、教育机构和其他利益攸关方展示和记录他们的外国资格和能力，以及他们对各自要求的了解程度。调查了雇主和教育提供者对移民的进一步资格措施的选择和建议及其基本原则。需要分析的是，这些建议是否实际上是由承认决定表明的。这将通过与核心利益攸关方就个别承认案例进行专家访谈来实现。案例研究涉及信令和筛选的理论概念。他们将考虑卫生和信息技术部门，这两个部门的监管程度和职业要求各不相同。此外，还将审查移民人口比例特别高的不同地区(安大略省、不列颠哥伦比亚省和魁北克省)。它们在省级法律和体制框架方面也存在分歧。该项目的结果希望对解释技能利用不足和对移民不利的不公平现象以及在评估外国资格和能力时信息的相关性作出经验贡献。这一发现为上述关于学历和工作经验含义的理论的发展提供了迹象。

The Canadian society is characterized by a plurality of immigrants. The Canadian migration policy and the corresponding recognition approaches are strongly geared to economic criteria as well as to education, skills and qualifications. The aim of this project is gaining knowledge of how immigrants to Canada can use their foreign qualifications and competences in their actual occupation. This study will perform a quantitative analysis of PIAAC-data using regression models to investigate to which extent the assumptions of the human capital theory and the theory of credentialism apply to the Canadian immigrant labour market. The quantitative analyses will compare immigrants with the domestic population - with regards to the phenomenon of skill under-utilization as well as pay inequity. Further, qualitative case studies will be conducted in Canadian enterprises to identify approaches and methods, which employers and other stakeholders use to make decisions regarding foreign qualification and competence recognition. The fundamentals and reference points of these decisions as well as the considered information will be investigated. Furthermore, the underlying reasons for the application of differing approaches and methods as well as their relations to operational requirements are examined. Regarding the individuals the analysis focuses on how immigrants present and document their foreign qualifications and competences to employers, educational institutions and additional stakeholders, as well as to what extend they feel informed about the respective requirements. The selection and proposal of further qualification measures by employers and education providers to immigrants and their underlying principles are investigated. It is to be analysed whether these proposals are actually indicated by the decision of recognition. This will be accomplished through expert interviews with core stakeholders regarding individual cases of recognition. The case studies refer to the theoretical concepts of signalling and screening. They will consider the Health and Information Technology sectors, which vary in their degree of regulation as well as their occupational requirements. In addition different regions characterized by especially high immigrant shares of the population (Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec) will be examined. They also differ regarding provincial legal and institutional frameworks. The project results hope to make an empirical contribution towards the explanation of skill under-utilization and pay inequity to the detriment of immigrants, as well as regarding the relevance of information in the evaluation of foreign qualifications and competences. The findings provide indications for the advancement of the above theories regarding the meaning of educational credentials and work experience.