Beyond Borders: An Insight into the Labor Market Trajectories of Black Caribbean Women in Canada
Family, Education, and Career Advancement
INTRODUCTION
This study revolves around the experiences of Caribbean Canadian women in the labor market. This topic is sociologically significant because of its lack of literature. I conducted this study in 2021, but I had nowhere to share it. Themes about labour migration overlooks the experience of migrant women, especially in the Caribbean context. This research seeks to study to create discourse on an underrepresented demographic in Canadian migration studies. Not only does it hope to reveal the sociological intersections between women, migration, and labour, but it also seeks to understand its intergenerational effects. By studying second-generation female immigrants, an in-depth conclusion can be made about the sorts of attitudes and influences that either encourage or discourage Caribbean-identifying women when considering their occupational options. The research question is the following: What are the labor market experiences of Black Caribbean Canadian women, and to what extent have they changed over the past half-century?
This question is relevant to themes of the migration for several reasons. For one, it deals with immigrant agency in contexts of labour and exclusion and the ways this sense of agency resonated in their descendants. More specifically, this research delves into economic integration and the sort of criteria that were required to be granted entry. The research also highlights the importance of ethnic/diaspora communities. Immigrants look to their most immediate communities as a source of socioeconomic reliability, and this remained apparent throughout the research. Although it was minimal, there are also notions of race and its impact on the decision-making process in regard to joining certain institutions. The research yielded the idea that Caribbean women who initially migrated to Canada to work relied heavily on the demands that immigration policies placed as well as their migrant communities. But as time progressed, it was ultimately the educational qualifications and experience in a specific field that allowed Caribbean women to succeed in the labor market. The inclusion criteria for this research were straightforward. I was looking for two women who identified as both Caribbean (or West Indian) and Canadian. I wanted one who migrated to Canada for work, and one born in Canada to Caribbean immigrant parents who eventually entered the labour market in Canada. Preferably, the woman who migrated to Canada had to be considerably older than the second-generation immigrant. Both of these women had to have at least 10 years worth of employment experience. By interviewing women with different diasporic statuses and different ages, the evolution of the labor market trends can be compared. This research is interested in how experiences change from one generation to the other.
The two respondents were eventually found and contacted. After receiving verbal consent, both interviews were conducted via WhatsApp. The first respondent, TT (an alias), did her interview on a video call, while EJ’s (the second respondent) interview was done on a voice call. TT is a middle-aged single mother of three who was born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area. She currently works as a project manager. On the other hand, EJ is an elderly woman with two adult children. She was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, and she came to the Greater Toronto Area in the 1960s and has been living there ever since. It is important to note that EJ is TT’s mother. It was assured to them that whatever information that was shared in the interview was completely confidential.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature surrounding this research topic is marginal. Labour migration studies rarely involve women of color, let alone Black Caribbean women. From the literature that could be gathered, the most frequent theme was that of gendered job demands and how they contributed to rigid immigration policies. Canada experienced a large volume of Caribbean immigrants in the mid-twentieth century once multiculturalism became the forefront of their immigration policies.
While both parties (West Indian diaspora and Canada) benefitted from the progressive legislation associated with racial diversity, it has misled immigrants to think of Canada as a haven. Hande, Akram, and Condratto analyzed the disappointment that immigrants in precarious work felt once they realized how poor working conditions were (2019). Precarious work in this context refers to “part-time, temporary, and contract work, which are rapidly replacing full time direct employment” (Hande et al. 2019: 714). Employers are aware of immigrants’ desperation for (precarious) work and use it to underpay and undervalue them. Plus, employers stereotype their immigrant employers as unaware of their own mistreatment. Immigrants are put in a conflicting position because of this mistreatment. They want to file claims, but they do not want to have a tarnished reputation in the labour market (Hande et al. 2019). This sort of treatment is not limited to low-wage workers. In the second journal article, “Survival Employment: Gender and Deskilling among African Immigrants in Canada”, Creese and Wiebe discussed the difficulties of entering the Canadian job market coming from abroad (2012). Specifically, the article covered the devaluation of African sociocultural capital when being assessed by Canadian agencies and institutions. This devaluation eventually results in immigrants being deskilled. Experience in the African job market automatically translates to low-skilled labour in these cases. One of the immigrants expressed their frustration with immigration:
“They say they cannot accept people who are not educated. They are accepting people who are educated, and when they come here, they treat them like uneducated people. What’s the use? Why not take people who are not educated then?” (Creese and Wiebe 2012: 63).
The sentiment around Canada’s labour migration policies is that it is contradictory. It is unfair that Canada specifically requests educated migrants, but the prerequisites for education are only relative to Canadian ideals. These articles relate to the study because they highlight the contradictions of Canada’s immigration policy—an aspect that was experienced by a respondent. Prescribed occupations and de-skilling are common practices mandated by Canadian immigration offices. Immigrants regularly encounter downward mobility even when arriving with proof of high education and job experience. This sort of stories implies Canada’s views of gendered and racialized essentialism: non-white immigrant women are best suited for low-wage, low-skilled labour in Canada.
FINDINGS: EJ
This research is interested in comparing the influences and shortcomings of the labour market between Black Caribbean women who migrated to Canada and Black Caribbean women who were born and raised in Canada. After interviewing the two respondents, a clear generational divide in labour market experience was revealed. To get a sense of the respondents’ initial employment opportunities, a general idea of their upbringing and education levels was in the opening line of questioning. EJ was born in Trinidad and Tobago. She is the youngest sibling with two older brothers. Her mother unfortunately passed away when she was a toddler, so her father was her sole parental figure growing up. Although her father did not have much more than a primary school education, EJ and her brothers enjoyed a lavish life.
“He was a money lender. In those days, you couldn’t borrow money from the bank. What people used to do is come to home to borrow money and he would draw their salaries. It was very profitable because he was able to buy a nice house where we grew up. We were very comfortable.” (Interview with EJ 2021, 17:15).
Her father instilled an importance on their education. EJ and her brothers, living so comfortably, did not find too much interest in going to school. Eventually, with enough (strict) persuasion, they decided to further their studies after secondary school. EJ took a couple of courses at the post-secondary level including secretarial and accounting courses. At first, her brothers moved to Washington DC to study and eventually. EJ followed their footsteps by the mid 1960’s, but not to study. It was a very common for West Indians out of school to work for international agencies. At first, she wanted to work at the Russian embassy in Washington, but her lack of credentials in statistics resulted in her not getting the job. Nonetheless, she had high regards for the variety of agencies she worked for:
“When I went, most of my friends, the international organizations were the easiest thing because they looked after your passport. So, once you're working with them, you don't have to worry about your passport. You could travel anywhere. There were lots of perks involved” (Interview with EJ 2021, 24:01).
EJ’s decision to move to Canada was influenced by her inner circle. The Canadian
government was opening their borders to educated migrants, so they felt it was time to move in order to progress in their careers. Unfortunately, when EJ first applied to go to Canada, she was refused. She was very irritated by this. “You see what happened in those days, they were filling gaps” (Interview with EJ 2021, 02:51). At the time, Canada was looking for female immigrants to do secretarial work. EJ, having both educational and occupational experience, was more than qualified for a work visa, yet she was not granted entry. Afterwards, she wrote to the immigration office to state her case for entry, and they eventually accepted her application. EJ’s experience is one that persists for many immigrants. While there is a national imperative to become multicultural, the value of (female) immigrant labour is dictated by whatever the market deems desirable. Even someone with solid credentials is not seen as valuable if too qualified for positions, they are being bestowed upon them. Once EJ settled in Canada, she eventually got married to her childhood best friend in 1970 and they started a family. For the next 17 years, she was content staying home and raising her children. It was not until her children were in middle school that EJ decided to go back to school. When asked what motivated her, she gave a simple answer: “Pride” (07:24). Although she had taken courses in the past, she wanted more for herself, so she applied to the University of Toronto as a part-time student. After seven years, she graduated with summa cum laude. By this time, her children were old enough to not need her all hours of the day, so she decided to go to work again. EJ looked to employment agencies to assist her in the process. These employment agencies offered free courses that seemed essential. So, she took accounting and introductory courses in Microsoft Office. The agencies eventually linked her to an accounting position at the University of Toronto. She went on to work there for nine years before retiring.
FINDINGS: TT
TT was born in the Greater Toronto Area to EJ and EJ’s husband in the 70s. She
describes her upbringing as normal. Her time in school was standard—without stress or worry. She was unique, though, compared to her peers. Most of her friends in the West Indian community did not attend post-secondary schools. She says this was due to domestic complications that her friends had to endure. For TT, she credits her easygoing life to her parents being present and motivating. Once TT graduated, she wanted to look into applying to colleges, but her mother disapproved. “Because she's like, ‘Why would you stoop so low? Because while your friends are going to college, you want to apply for college’. And I'm like, ‘that's really racist’.” (Interview with TT 2021, 07:18). TT was explaining that her mother’s disapproval came from a societal stereotype that Black students go to college. The association with college students is that they are not smart enough to attend university—racialized students were usually known for going to college. For TT’s mother, going to a good school offered good opportunities after school. Fortunately for TT, her mother worked at the University of Toronto, so that connection allowed her to go to school there where she eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Science. While her mother did force her to go to university, TT had a choice on what to study. It is connections like these that TT was able to succeed. After graduating from university, she did not have a problem finding a job, thanks to her aunt.
“So again. I was very privileged and very lucky because [Her aunt] worked at the bank. I see everybody got jobs to the bank. Like my brother worked at the bank, and I worked at the bank. And some of my friends went to the bank. So, I did that for wow. How long was I at that bank? Twelve or maybe over ten years.” (Interview with TT 2021, 09:31)
TT’s credits her seamless entry into the labour market to her family. Her mother’s connection to the university eventually gave her the foundation to work at a bank her aunt was managing. TT’s experience entails that the generation that migrated to Canada was able to facilitate the ascending Caribbean population. TT did not have to worry about being de-skilled. Her credentials came from the Canadian curriculum, so she did not have to worry about further schooling or a low-wage job. Working at the bank, she was able to learn lots of work-related skills, and it allowed her to move up. Once she decided to move on from banking, another one of her aunts connected her to a position at one of the largest tech companies at the time. It was through this tech company that she learned to hone her skills as a project manager. Along the way, she completed a couple of courses that related to her job in order to have an advantage over her co-workers. Unfortunately, she got laid off after 13 years with them. After the tech company, she went out and looked for jobs without the support of her family. She worked at a life insurance company shortly after but was laid off again in her seventh year there. TT became frustrated with being laid off so many times.
“It’s normal. And it's very unfortunate because it sends you to all kinds of places in your head that people shouldn't go, “why don't these people think I'm worth it?” I feel useless. I can't support my family. It's anger, it's revenge. And it's not a good place for people to be.” (Interview with TT 2021, 13:13)
Obtaining a job was the easy part. She felt confident enough in her abilities to find to work. The hard part was keeping it when her position became vulnerable. Her layoff with the insurance company was really a firing, according to TT. This was because TT had a case against them that she could have taken to court. She did not specify the details of the case. However, TT did feel like the firing was a “blessing in disguise” (Interview with TT 2021, 15:02). The week after crafting the case, she aced an interview with a health agency on a Monday, and they offered her a position on Tuesday, then she was officially fired the by the insurance company on Wednesday. The labour market was easy for TT to navigate despite a series of misfortunate events. She relied on her confidence and her expertise to find employment. TT was knowledgeable enough in her field to find positions she would be comfortable in. Being a mother too, having a manageable work-life balance was a priority for TT.
DISCUSSION
The two interviews revealed sociological concepts that resonated deeply with the course. In the case of EJ, the stories shared the perspective of an immigrant who came from a rather wealthy class. This is an uncommon topic in migration studies. She explicitly mentioned leaving with no goals in mind. EJ was simply bored with life, so she decided to migrate to accompany her older brothers. She thoroughly enjoyed her youth living life quickly while also holding diplomat status thanks to the international agencies. EJ’s tales illuminated an underestimated demographic in the realm of migration: the young, educated, and wealthy immigrant. After settling down in Canada and starting a family, EJ was not worried about creating income since her husband’s job was sufficient to cover all their wants and needs. This study has also revealed the importance of family connections. For EJ, departing Trinidad and Tobago to leave her brothers is what introduced her to the labour market. In the case of TT, her aunts were able to set her up with great job opportunities—ones that most people her age did not get right after post-secondary school. If it were possible, the study would include an interviewee who identified as a West Indian from a nation-state other than Trinidad and Tobago. This interviewee would also have to be an immigrant who landed in Canada for a high-paying job, only to be de-skilled. With these criteria, an emphasis on the emotional and/or racial notions of de-skilling can be emphasized. To extend the current analysis, the following questions will be asked: (1) How would you describe the work life of the typical Caribbean woman in Canada? (2) What instances of discrimination did you face in the workplace if there were any? (3) How did your husband(s) feel about you working? These questions are meant to incite answers about the types of conflicts the respondents went through. It would be interesting to learn about the discouraging parts of their work lives in order to highlight any forms of racism, sexism, or even classism.
CONCLUSION
This research study wanted to detail the ways in which Caribbean-Canadian immigrant women navigated the labour market, plus it wanted to reveal the ways these navigations influenced the next generation to go and find employment. After interviewing a Trinidadian woman who migrated to Canada in the mid-twentieth century named EJ, she revealed that her educational background is what allowed her to advance in her career. Even though her migration process was abrupted by her overqualification, due to Canada’s strict entry requirements, she was able to create a relaxed life for herself. Once EJ settled down and started a family, her will to work faded. It was not until her children became teenagers that she wanted to complete her studies. After gaining her degree, she landed an accounting job at a university where she ended up retiring. Her education was her vehicle for occupational progression. Her success in the job market eventually paved a path for her daughter, TT. Second-generation Caribbean women, with solid social capital, can rely on their family members to kickstart their careers. Ultimately, though, having a combination of post-secondary education and skill specialization is where Caribbean women experience triumph in the labour market.
Works Cited
Creese, & Wiebe, B. (2012). “Survival Employment”: Gender and Deskilling among African Immigrants in Canada. International Migration, 50(5), 56–76.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2009.00531.x
Hande, Mian Akram, A., & Condratto, S. (2019). “All of This Happens Here?”:
Diminishing Perceptions of Canada through Immigrants’ Precarious Work in Ontario. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 21(3), 711–729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00683-y