The migration of Indian knowledge workers to Canada: a structuration theory perspective
Date
2004
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
With the emergence of the knowledge economy and concomitant changes in the areas of
technology and globalization of economy and labor market, the migration of knowledge
workers and particularly Indian knowledge workers has received a lot of attention.
However they are different from traditional migration flows because of the choice of
migration destinations, widespread demand for such workers and diminished importance
of push factors. Such knowledge workers are highly adaptable and their skills readily
transferable to any region of the world. Canada has to firmly establish itself as a
foremost destination for migrant knowledge workers and market its attractiveness, with
its safe multi-ethnic urban regions, quality of life and strong and stable economy. This is
essential in obtaining the desired migrant stocks and flows, but also in securing the
highest quality and most desirable migrant knowledge workers. There is considerable
discussion regarding the validity and completeness of contemporary migration theories.
The analysis presented in the thesis shows the advantages of the use of structuration
theory in international migration and extends the claims made by Goss and Lindquist on
the validity of use of structuration theory for multi level analysis in the area of
international migration. The study highlights the role of structure and agency through
interviews of skilled Indian migrants to Canada and subsequent analysis of the data
collected. In addition recent studies by the Canadian government, academic research and
reports by organizations such as the World Bank have been leveraged to develop the
structuration analysis. The study proposes policy changes such as highlighting the
attractiveness of Canada as a migration destination at a micro level; develop a robust
mechanism for recognizing migrant qualifications, wider deployment of fast track procedures for immigration processing and recognition of migration of semi-finished
human capital as a means for meeting labor market needs.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Sociology
Program
Sociology