Guest editorial: Crossing boundaries and strengthening social connections through improved professional integration of immigrants

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2022-377
• Published date: 21 September 2022
• Date: 21 September 2022
• Pages: 953-958
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Tania Saba,Joana Vassilopoulou,Eddy Ng,Mustafa Ozbilgin

Guest editorial: Crossing

boundaries and strengthening

social connections through

improved professional integration

of immigrants

This is the second of two special issues, which emerged from a discussion that began at the

EDI 2018 conference, where researchers explored the advances, setbacks, drifts and

transformations brought about by strategies and actions to promote equity, diversity and

inclusion. This issue focuses on the labor market integration of immigrants from a global

and comparative perspective. This includes the institutional and social approaches aiming at

achieving equity and inclusion goals at the social, labor market and organizational levels.

Globally, immigrants are often disadvantaged in their host country’s labor markets, being

denied jobs that match their educational credentials, segregated into lower-paying and

precarious jobs and being subjected to frequent discrimination (Vassilopoulou et al., 2022;

Vassilopoulou and Brabet, 2019). Thus, from a comparative perspective that strives to

analyze more closely the dynamics of the employment integration of immigrants, three paths

can be taken to correct their underrepresentation and improve access to different job

categories and working conditions within organizations. The first, and perhaps most

influential, is by strengthening public policy on employment equity. The second is by

involving various stakeholders, including unions, civil society and other bodies in the

establishment and achievement of equity and diversity objectives. The third is by redefining

the role of organizations in implementing more effective action plans aimed at better

integrating disadvantaged workers into the labor market.

Stronger employment equity legislation

Employment statistics continue to highlight the persistence of structural inequalities and

discriminationagainst disadvantaged groups,such as immigrants, in the labor market.These

inequalitiespersist irregardless of whether a countryexperiences a challenging or prosperous

economic condition. Studies show that employers, even when they are willing to voluntarily

engage in strategiesand action to strengthen employmentequity, face difficulties in fully and

advantageously utilizing migrant an d underrepresented workers (Saba et al. ,2021;

Vassilopoulou, 2017). Three main reasons account for the underrepresentation of

disadvantaged and migrant workers in organizations. The first is employers’lack of

knowledge about the systemic and structural barriers in employment that inhabit their

organizations. The second is organizations’lack of expertise in implementing effective and

proven EDI programsto hire and retain diverse workers.The third relates to the backlashand

resistance to any change that seeks to create more inclusive organizations and workplaces

(Lam and Ng, 2020). Moreover, EDI action plans areoften misunderstood, thought to set up a

preferential system when, in fact, they establish redress mechanisms, systems to ensure

equitable treatment and support to strengthenthese systems (Saba et al.,2021).

Guest editorial

953

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 7, 2022

pp. 953-958

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-09-2022-377