Immigrant women trained in STEM are an invisible talent pool -The Hill Times
We have all likely encountered an immigrant working a job that was far below their expertise and education.
Photograph courtesy of Thao Pham
Canada underutilizes the talents and potential of its immigrant population. Many are under-employed and underpaid. Immigrant women trained in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) comprise perhaps the richest talent pool that our country needs to tap into more successfully.
Instead of making full use of this much-needed supply of talent, we do not recognize or remove the many obstacles in their way. Being an immigrant woman myself, and trained in science, I felt a personal connection to the stories highlighted in a recent report by TechGirls Canada, a non-profit research and advocacy group, that underlined the challenges these women face when they come to Canada.
Take Ella, for example. She is a biologist with a master’s degree, a PhD, and postdoctoral work in molecular biology. Before moving to Canada, Ella was an associate researcher and lab manager in Israel. Despite her experience and professional success, she could not continue her career in Canada without first taking the backward step of doing another postdoctoral fellowship because she was continuously asked for Canadian experience.
What followed were long hours and weekends, working alongside younger, mostly single colleagues while she had three young children at home—all to rebuild a professional status she had already earned.
The challenges Ella faced are not just a waste of her time and talent. Stories like hers also represent a much bigger cost to the Canadian economy. A report by the Royal Bank of Canada estimates that immigrant under-employment accounts for a staggering $50-billion loss to the economy every year. This figure includes immigrant women with STEM qualifications.
Like other countries, Canada is facing a critical shortage of workers trained in STEM, one that in the long run will jeopardize our country’s economic growth and competitiveness. Canada also has a large gender disparity gap in this crucial sector, with women accounting for only 23 per cent of the workforce.
Immigrant women are not absent from these fields. The latest census found they numbered 426,000, or 52 per cent of all women in the sector. But despite their international experience and expertise, they have the worst outcomes when it comes to unemployment, under-employment, and the wage gap. They earn on average 55 cents for every dollar earned by non-immigrant men with the same qualifications.
Canada is slowly beginning to recognize the immense potential these women hold. Federal initiatives like the Express Entry program at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada actively target highly skilled immigrants to help close the STEM employment gap. The Ontario government recently eliminated the requirement for engineers trained abroad to have Canadian work experience to apply for licensing. These are encouraging signs.
There is change in the private sector, as well. Companies are increasingly embracing diversity and inclusion. They see firsthand how a diverse workforce fosters innovation, and leads to better problem-solving and higher profits.
Non-profit organizations, including agencies that serve immigrants—and TechGirls Canada—are playing a crucial role by facilitating the integration of immigrant women trained in STEM. They provide mentorship, language skills, and networking support.
While these efforts are yielding positive results, we need to ramp up support, or face losing these highly skilled workers to other countries that recognize and use their potential. We should be worried that The Leaky Bucket report from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship shows a growing number of immigrants to Canada are deciding to leave this country rather than stay.
Collaboration across sectors is key to addressing the multifaceted barriers faced by immigrant women trained in STEM. Government, the private sector, and non-profit organizations must partner to implement initiatives that provide holistic support, and include targeted training and mentorship with relevant leaders and companies. As businesses improve internal policies that encourage diversity, they will soon see, as will the country, that these practices are not just good for society, but also good for our national economy.
Ella’s long, arduous story had a happy ending. She was fortunate to run into someone who knew of her work prior to her immigration to Canada. The vast majority of these stories do not end that way. That is why it is long past time to shine a bright light on this relatively untapped, invisible pool of talent and remove obstacles from their path to fulfilling jobs. From innovation, to greater prosperity to a stronger, more resilient social and economic foundation, we have everything to gain.
I have a personal message for all the extraordinary, talented immigrant women out there: Do not lose hope. Your abilities, skills and knowledge are vital assets to Canada, and the country is beginning to see it.
Thao Pham immigrated to Canada with her family, received her science degrees at McGill University and Université du Québec à Montréal, and held many senior positions in the Government of Canada. She is now Board Chair of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, Board Director of Mitacs, and Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
This article was originally published in The Hill Times. Read the full piece here.