Employment and Deskilling: Experiences of Skilled, Racialized Immigrants in the Canadian Labour Market

This book examines the socio-economic integration of skilled, racialized immigrants in Canada. Although many arrive with advanced education and professional credentials, they often face significant barriers to securing meaningful employment and career advancement. Central to the book are three interrelated areas of inquiry: (a) deskilling and downward mobility, (b) structural inequality in the labor market, and (c) the gendered dimensions of deskilling. Drawing on primary data, the book investigates how the Canadian labor market continues to reproduce systemic inequalities despite its rhetoric of diversity and inclusion. It offers policy recommendations to advance employment equity, gender justice, and inclusion of immigrants in the workforce. This book is a vital resource for students, scholars, and practitioners and is especially well-suited for graduate courses in the humanities and social sciences, including labor studies, sociology, social work, migration studies, and gender studies.

Dr. Karun Kishor Karki is Associate Professor of social work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is Founding Director of the Emotional Well-being Institute (EWBI) Canada and is currently Co-Director of Education and Professional Development at EWBI Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Karun holds a Ph.D. in social work from Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, and a master of social work from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA. He also holds two additional master’s degrees--one in sociology and another in English literature--from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. His scholarly inquiries are grounded in critical theories, including anti-racism, anti-casteism, anti-colonialism, intersectionality, and anti-oppressive social justice praxis. Deeply influenced by postcolonial theory, Dr. Karki is particularly interested in examining how biopolitical and necropolitical regimes within the borders of the nation-states govern marginalized populations. More specifically, his research explores issues of identity, belonging, and exclusion among racialized diasporic and minoritized communities.