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1 – 10 of over 5000Mushira Mohsin Khan, Karen Kobayashi, Zoua M. Vang and Sharon M. Lee
Canada’s visible minority population is increasing rapidly, yet despite the demographic significance of this population, there is a surprising dearth of nationally representative…
Abstract
Purpose
Canada’s visible minority population is increasing rapidly, yet despite the demographic significance of this population, there is a surprising dearth of nationally representative health data on visible minorities. This is a major challenge to undertaking research on the health of this group, particularly in the context of investigating racial/ethnic disparities and health disadvantages that are rooted in racialization. The purpose of this paper is to summarize: mortality and morbidity patterns for visible minorities; determinants of visible minority health; health status and determinants of the health of visible minority older adults (VMOA); and promising data sources that may be used to examine visible minority health in future research.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review of 99 studies or publications published between 1978 and 2014 (abstracts of 72 and full articles of 27) was conducted to summarize data and research findings on visible minority health to answer four specific questions: what is known about the morbidity and mortality patterns of visible minorities relative to white Canadians? What is known about the determinants of visible minority health? What is known about the health status of VMOA, a growing segment of Canada’s aging population, and how does this compare with white older adults? And finally, what data sources have been used to study visible minority health?
Findings
There is indeed a major gap in health data and research on visible minorities in Canada. Further, many studies failed to distinguish between immigrants and Canadian-born visible minorities, thus conflating effects of racial status with those of immigrant status on health. The VMOA population is even more invisible in health data and research. The most promising data set appears to be the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS).
Originality/value
This paper makes an important contribution by providing a comprehensive overview of the nature, extent, and range of data and research available on the health of visible minorities in Canada. The authors make two key recommendations: first, over-sampling visible minorities in standard health surveys such as the CCHS, or conducting targeted health surveys of visible minorities. Surveys should collect information on key socio-demographic characteristics such as nativity, ethnic origin, socioeconomic status, and age-at-arrival for immigrants. Second, researchers should consider an intersectionality approach that takes into account the multiple factors that may affect a visible minority person’s health, including the role of discrimination based on racial status, immigrant characteristics for foreign-born visible minorities, age and the role of ageism for older adults, socioeconomic status, gender (for visible minority women), and geographic place or residence in their analyses.
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The purpose of this paper is to stress the importance of including visible minority librarians in the process of succession planning in academic libraries. In Canada visible…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to stress the importance of including visible minority librarians in the process of succession planning in academic libraries. In Canada visible minorities is the accepted term used for librarians of color. This paper identifies the challenges faced by these librarians in putting their names forward for administrative/leadership positions and proposes ideas on how to include these librarians in the succession planning processes so the leadership/administrative pool can also reflect the multicultural student demographics.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is an extensive study of the literature on succession planning and visible minority or ethnic librarians in the academic libraries. Literature shows that the senior administration of academic libraries does not reflect the population demographic it serves.
Findings
This paper shows that visible minority librarians are not proactively found, recruited, retained. They are certainly not being included in succession planning processes. It suggests that academic libraries follow certain processes and strategies to include these librarians in their succession planning.
Research limitations/implications
The paper focusses widely on North American visible minorities, but this information is applicable to any community with visible minorities.
Practical implications
Libraries can start thinking about creating strategies for including visible minority libraries in their succession planning processes.
Originality/value
This paper addresses a gap in the literature. Literature review showed that there are no papers that speak to the importance of including minority librarians in the succession planning processes.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the positive and negative workplace experiences of gay men that they perceive to be a consequence of their sexual identity.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the positive and negative workplace experiences of gay men that they perceive to be a consequence of their sexual identity.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses in-depth interviews of a diverse group of university educated white collar men employed full-time in the public and private sector. Its findings are based on a thematic content analysis of these interviews.
Findings
Despite experiencing some negative consequences of being out at work, their positive and neutral experiences show encouraging signs of increasingly tolerant workplaces. Some of the challenges encountered that respondents believe to be a consequence of their sexual identity are, however, not dissimilar to those faced by workers with non-traditional families.
Research limitations/implications
As with any small sample exploratory qualitative research, this paper’s findings cannot necessarily be generalized to larger populations. The uniqueness of the sample (ethnically/culturally homogenous, university educated, public/private sector employees, residents of medium-sized Canadian city) allow for display of certain experiences not representative of the population at large.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the relatively small but growing body of research on the experience of sexual minorities in the workplace. Its findings challenging the notion that sexual minorities are uniquely advantaged in the workplace, and that research on sexual minorities in the workplace is misguided in focusing on the problematic aspects of sexual identity/orientation.
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School resource officers (SROs) have become commonplace in schools across the USA. Although their visibility may allow them to function as capable guardians, little research has…
Abstract
Purpose
School resource officers (SROs) have become commonplace in schools across the USA. Although their visibility may allow them to function as capable guardians, little research has examined their impact on less serious but more common forms of school violence, like bullying. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the presence, quantity and roles of SROs and the frequency of bullying.
Design/methodology/approach
Data come from the nationally representative 2006 School Survey on Crime and Safety. The relationship between SROs and bullying, controlling for other guardians, motivated offenders and school characteristics, was assessed using ordered logistic regression. Separate models were estimated for middle and high schools.
Findings
There was no association between the presence, quantity or role of SROs and bullying in middle or high schools; however, teacher training was associated with less frequent bullying, especially in middle schools, and the presence of motivated offenders was associated with more frequent bullying.
Research limitations/implications
Whether SROs reduce school violence is contested; this study found no association between SROs and bullying, a less serious but more common form of school violence. Future research should consider the roles of SROs in schools and the credibility of capable guardians.
Practical implications
The results caution against continuing to divert educational and social service resources to law enforcement in schools. Continued training for teachers may provide more effective guardianship against bullying.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the developing literature on the effect of SROs on less serious but more common forms of school violence, like bullying.
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Charles M. Katz, Edward R. Maguire and Dennis W. Roncek
Specialized police gang units are a rapidly emerging form of concentrated social control. Prior research, however, into the creation of specialized gang units suffers from a…
Abstract
Specialized police gang units are a rapidly emerging form of concentrated social control. Prior research, however, into the creation of specialized gang units suffers from a number of theoretical and methodological shortcomings. These shortcomings make it difficult to understand which of several potential explanations can best account for the establishment of specialized police gang units. Three perspectives are examined that have been hypothesized by policymakers and academics to explain the creation of gang units: contingency theory, social threat theory, and resource dependency theory. Using data obtained from police departments and communities around the country, the explanatory power of measures derived from these three theories is explored, while controlling for several environmental and organizational influences.
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Joseph Yaw Asomah, Eugene Emeka Dim, Yiyan Li and Hongming Cheng
Corruption perception is essential to study because it can shape people’s attitudes toward the government. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to address this key question: what…
Abstract
Purpose
Corruption perception is essential to study because it can shape people’s attitudes toward the government. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to address this key question: what factors are associated with a non-expert’s judgment of whether Canada is corrupt?
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the World Value Survey conducted in Canada in October 2020. This survey is based on a nationally representative sample of a cross-section of adult Canadian residents, including Canadian citizens and permanent residents and those who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents.
Findings
Based on this study, some conclusions can be made. First, people accessing corruption news from the traditional news media are less likely than those receiving information from the new media to perceive the state (in this case, Canada) as corrupt. Second, people who have less confidence in public institutions are more likely to perceive a country as corrupt. Third, people who participate in electoral and non-electoral forms of political participation are more likely to perceive the state and its public officials as corrupt. Fourth, regardless of which political party is in power, individuals who lean right politically are more likely than those on the left to perceive the state as corrupt. Finally, immigrants are less likely than those born in Canada to perceive the state as corrupt. This work enriches the literature on the substantive understanding of the factors associated with corruption perception.
Originality/value
Studies investigating factors associated with public perception of corruption tend to focus on developing countries. The current study contributes to filling this gap in knowledge by examining correlates of corruption perception in Canada. As a result, this study contributes to the literature on factors associated with corruption perception, especially in the developed country context.
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In this article visible minority immigrant women's encounters and perceptions in accessing healthcare in Canada are explored. The aim is to understand the role play of the…
Abstract
Purpose
In this article visible minority immigrant women's encounters and perceptions in accessing healthcare in Canada are explored. The aim is to understand the role play of the vulnerability statuses, gender, visibility, immigration and their intersectionality as factors contributing to (in)equitiesin healthcare accessibility.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected from a sample of 32 adult immigrant women, living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, using five focus group meetings. The participants have migrated from five regions of the world; South‐Eastern Asia, Middle‐Eastern Asia, the African continent, Latin/South America and non‐English speaking countries in Eastern Europe. Data were analysed using an inductive coding using the cultural health capital framework.
Findings
The findings reveal that audio and visual personal attributes such as skin colour, accent and excess body weight that are beyond Canadian norms lead to unfavourable interpersonal dynamics. Fundamental causes of diseases and clinical discourses are embedded in ethno‐cultural realties of gender, ethno‐racial identity, English communication styles and immigration related economic downturns.
Research limitations/implications
Individual level recommendations include self efficacy and empowerment. Policies and program level recommendations include enhancement of multicultural realms of healthcare to promote equity in healthcare accessibility.
Originality/value
Utilization of cultural health capital framework to illustrate inequities in healthcare accessibility, for visible and audible minority immigrant women, living in a country with universal healthcare coverage, brings a novel conceptual approach. New policy implications stemmed from the original research findings. Canadian cultural health capital framework that was developed in this article can be applied to illustrate other minorities' healthcare accessibility.
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Maude Boulet, Marie Lachapelle and Sebastien Keiff
The main objective of this article is to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge on the determinants of perceived workplace discrimination and its consequences on…
Abstract
Purpose
The main objective of this article is to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge on the determinants of perceived workplace discrimination and its consequences on workers' well-being in Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a representative sample of 7,706 workers aged 18 to 65 based on data from the 2016 General Social Survey of Canadians at Work and Home to conduct logistic regression models.
Findings
Women and visible minorities are at greater risk of perceiving that they have experienced workplace discrimination, but immigrants' perceived workplace discrimination risk is no different from that of non-immigrants. This risk is higher in public administration than in other industries and varies between provinces. Perceived workplace discrimination increases stress and is associated with a lower level of self-reported mental health.
Practical implications
Since perceived discrimination has a detrimental effect on workers' well-being, organizations should pay special attention to their employees’ perceptions. Relying only on official complaints of discrimination can lead organizations to underestimate this issue because many employees are not inclined to file an official complaint, even if they believe they have been discriminated against.
Originality/value
The authors findings are original because they suggest that visible socio-demographic characteristics (gender and visible minority) affect perceived workplace discrimination, which is not the case for invisible socio-demographic characteristics (immigrant). They point out that the province of residence is an element of the context to be considered and they indicate that workers in the public sector are more likely to perceive discrimination than those in other industries. These empirical contributions highlight that, despite anti-discrimination laws and government efforts to promote equity, diversity and inclusion, perceived workplace discrimination persists in Canada, particularly among women and visible minorities and it has tangible impacts on the workers' well-being.
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Sudhir K. Saha, David O’Donnell, Taran Patel and John Heneghan
The purpose of this paper, in the context of the employment equity (EE) field, is to explore the relationship between individual values/beliefs and simulated hiring decisions of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper, in the context of the employment equity (EE) field, is to explore the relationship between individual values/beliefs and simulated hiring decisions of minority candidates in Canada, France and Ireland.
Design/methodology/approach
Individual values/beliefs were elicited using Likert type scales; subjects responded to a series of simulated hiring scenarios.
Findings
The link between individual value and belief systems and EE‐related HR decision making on recruitment of minority candidates is modestly supported by the findings presented here. The values/beliefs of students from leading business schools influenced, if in part, their simulated hiring decisions on minority candidates presented in the scenarios. National context also matters as EE institutions differ at the societal level of analysis.
Research limitations/implications
The subjects were business school students of limited work experience addressing scenario situations, not practicing managers making real hiring decisions. The use of self‐reports leads to the usual issues related to common method variance, the consistency motif, social desirability bias, and so on and we note the limits due to the reverse ecological fallacy. Research findings provide modest support to this argument but should be treated with caution.
Practical implications
Individual values and beliefs matter in HR decision making on recruitment of minority candidates.
Originality/value
Much EE research focuses on antecedents of values/beliefs; this paper is one of a handful of investigations that attempts to establish possible outcomes of values/beliefs towards EE.
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– The purpose of this paper is to offer an insight into why men do research on in-equality.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer an insight into why men do research on in-equality.
Design/methodology/approach
The author utilizes autoethnography, as a form of self-reflection, to help make sense of the own experiences and to connect it with the broader world. It is a narrative based on personal experiences which connects the author's biography with his research endeavours. It also enables to engage in self-analysis and self-awareness of the motives for conducting research on in-equality.
Findings
In this narrative, the author shares his journey as an equality scholar, and how his multiple identities as a visible minority, an immigrant to Canada, and a gay person shapes my worldview, attitudes, and beliefs, which in turn influences his own work on equality and diversity. The narrative is based on the intersection of multiple identities, and not just solely based on the author's gender. The attribute feeling deprived on behalf of others, rational self-interest, and social justice as the chief reasons for engaging in in-equality research.
Research limitations/implications
Autoethnography is inherently subjective, based upon the author's own biases and interpretation of events, but the subjectivity can also be an opportunity for intentional self-awareness and reflexivity. Given the multiple identities that the author holds, some of the experiences recounted here may be unique to the author, and some may be shared with others. Thus, it is not the author's intention to represent, in general, why men do in-equality research.
Originality/value
This autoethnography has allowed the author the opportunity to be self-aware of the complexity of the multiple identities. This self-awareness also allows the author to be more respectful, authentic, and inclusive of others. The author hopes that these reflections will resonate with some of you, and perhaps inspire one to engage in similar work, for reasons that are unique to one and all.
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