News Release

Working in ethnic economy hampers immigrants' integration, researcher says

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Toronto

Asian immigrants working solely in the ethnic economy can become socially isolated from the broader society, says University of Toronto researcher Eric Fong.

"While immigrants working in ethnic-oriented businesses do prosper, they can become trapped by the social confines of the economy they helped build," says Fong, the study's lead author and a professor of the department of sociology and the Centre for Urban and Community Studies. "The inability of immigrants to integrate socially with other groups can be staggering."

In 1998, Fong and graduate student Emi Ooka of sociology interviewed 217 people of Chinese descent within the Greater Toronto Area, a majority of whom were immigrants from Asia. Forty-three per cent were employed in the Asian ethnic economy -- in businesses managed by people of Asian descent or those that employ a majority of Asian employees.

The researchers found these immigrants tended to have lower educational levels and a poorer grasp of English. They were also slightly older than those employed in the mainstream economy. "If they remain isolated, they could lose the skill of interacting with individuals from other groups that a person working in the mainstream economy may have access to," Fong says. "This could hurt them economically in the long run."

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The study, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration & Settlement Centre, will be published in the International Migration Review.

CONTACT: Professor Eric Fong, department of sociology, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, 416-978-8488 or 416-978-7897, fong@chass.utoronto.ca
or Sue Toye, U of T public affairs, 416-978-0260, sue.toye@utoronto.ca



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