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Four A complicated welcome: social workers navigate policy, organisational contexts and sociocultural dynamics following migration to Canada1

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Abstract

Canada is promoted as a land of opportunity, with its natural beauty purportedly matched by the generosity of its people. Since 1994, Canada has been ranked in the top 10 places to live in the world, and in 2013 it placed third in the global ‘better life index’, recognised for its comfortable standard of living, low mortality rate, solid education and health systems, and low crime rate (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2013). It is a promising option for migrant professionals looking to leave their home countries for a variety of reasons related to social, political and economic conditions. This chapter reports on the experiences of 44 social workers who undertook their social work education outside Canada and migrated to Canada with the intent of continuing to practise social work. We bring analysis to three key areas experienced as problematic: policy, including immigration, recognition of foreign credentials, and registration with the licensing body; organisational context, including issues related to the search for employment and process of hiring; and socio-cultural dynamics, the more subtle relations required to ‘fit in’ and feelings of ‘difference’ in relation to one’s colleagues. The findings for each of these are discussed in detail below, drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986).

Abstract

Canada is promoted as a land of opportunity, with its natural beauty purportedly matched by the generosity of its people. Since 1994, Canada has been ranked in the top 10 places to live in the world, and in 2013 it placed third in the global ‘better life index’, recognised for its comfortable standard of living, low mortality rate, solid education and health systems, and low crime rate (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2013). It is a promising option for migrant professionals looking to leave their home countries for a variety of reasons related to social, political and economic conditions. This chapter reports on the experiences of 44 social workers who undertook their social work education outside Canada and migrated to Canada with the intent of continuing to practise social work. We bring analysis to three key areas experienced as problematic: policy, including immigration, recognition of foreign credentials, and registration with the licensing body; organisational context, including issues related to the search for employment and process of hiring; and socio-cultural dynamics, the more subtle relations required to ‘fit in’ and feelings of ‘difference’ in relation to one’s colleagues. The findings for each of these are discussed in detail below, drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986).

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. Acknowledgements v
  4. List of tables and figures vi
  5. List of abbreviations vii
  6. Notes on contributors viii
  7. Transnational social work: opportunities and challenges of a global profession 1
  8. Setting the transnational context
  9. Opportunities and challenges of a global profession: an international perspective 19
  10. New Public Management, migrant professionals and labour mobility: possibilities for social justice social work? 35
  11. Practitioner perspectives
  12. A complicated welcome: social workers navigate policy, organisational contexts and sociocultural dynamics following migration to Canada1 55
  13. The experience of transnational social workers in England: some findings from research 73
  14. Transnational social workers in Australia: naivety in the transnational professional space 89
  15. Transnational social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand 107
  16. Employer/stakeholder views
  17. In search of better opportunities: transnational social workers in the UK navigating the maze of global and social mobility 125
  18. Transnational social workers and the Australian labour market 139
  19. Pōwhiri: a safe space of cultural encounter to assist transnational social workers in the profession in Aotearoa New Zealand 155
  20. Consistency and change: internationally educated social workers compare interpretations and approaches in Canada and their countries of origin 171
  21. Policy challenges, professional responses
  22. Readiness and regulation: perspectives of Canadian stakeholders on the labour mobility of internationally educated social workers 189
  23. Will she be right, mate? Standards and diversity in Australian social work 205
  24. Recognising transnational social workers in Australia 223
  25. Social work mobility in Europe: a case study from Ireland 241
  26. Conclusion 261
  27. Index 269
Transnational Social Work
This chapter is in the book Transnational Social Work
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781447333371-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. Acknowledgements v
  4. List of tables and figures vi
  5. List of abbreviations vii
  6. Notes on contributors viii
  7. Transnational social work: opportunities and challenges of a global profession 1
  8. Setting the transnational context
  9. Opportunities and challenges of a global profession: an international perspective 19
  10. New Public Management, migrant professionals and labour mobility: possibilities for social justice social work? 35
  11. Practitioner perspectives
  12. A complicated welcome: social workers navigate policy, organisational contexts and sociocultural dynamics following migration to Canada1 55
  13. The experience of transnational social workers in England: some findings from research 73
  14. Transnational social workers in Australia: naivety in the transnational professional space 89
  15. Transnational social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand 107
  16. Employer/stakeholder views
  17. In search of better opportunities: transnational social workers in the UK navigating the maze of global and social mobility 125
  18. Transnational social workers and the Australian labour market 139
  19. Pōwhiri: a safe space of cultural encounter to assist transnational social workers in the profession in Aotearoa New Zealand 155
  20. Consistency and change: internationally educated social workers compare interpretations and approaches in Canada and their countries of origin 171
  21. Policy challenges, professional responses
  22. Readiness and regulation: perspectives of Canadian stakeholders on the labour mobility of internationally educated social workers 189
  23. Will she be right, mate? Standards and diversity in Australian social work 205
  24. Recognising transnational social workers in Australia 223
  25. Social work mobility in Europe: a case study from Ireland 241
  26. Conclusion 261
  27. Index 269
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