In training programs designed to help immigrant women adapt to Canada, drop-out rates are frequently high and attendance is often low. Investigating some reasons behind this observation was the motivation for this thesis. A literature review revealed that curricula used in existing programs are often developed from experts' understanding of immigrants' needs; research on immigrant women's curricular needs as perceived by themselves is virtually nonexistent. An objective of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap. This study inquired into what curricular needs immigrant women have, how these needs differ, and what relationship exists between the women's backgrounds and their curricular needs. A questionnaire was developed and validated by an expert panel, and then administered to graduates from an orientational training program. Post-survey interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), factor analysis, and linear discriminant analysis. It was found that the program, although well received, did not reflect the curricular needs perceived by the immigrant women themselves. Life skills instruction was unwanted by many students while English and computer lessons were in demand. A desire to regain higherquality jobs partially explained the women's curricular needs. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The process of adjustment of immigrants into Canadian society is an important economic, social, political and cultural issue; politicians, researchers and practitioners are trying to coordinate their efforts into making this process smoother and easier for the immigrants. The present study which employed exploratory, qualitative methods solicited the perceptions of immigrants regarding their adjustment process and also the perceptions of multicultural/resettlement workers as part of the process. Eighteen immigrants ( male, female ), from diverse continents, countries, age, sex, professions and education were interviewed and asked to fill out 2 Hudson scales (GCS and ISE). Ten multicultural/resettlement workers had answered a 23 item questionnaire. Major psychosocial aspects related to adjustment are described as elicited from the data and literature research. Implications for social work practice are outlined. It was found that attention to a systems framework for viewing the individual multidimensional problems/interactions is important when considering the adjustment process (which is a difficult process as the interviewers described it). The interviewed people manifested grateful consideration of the government efforts toward the distribution of benefits and opportunities to newly arrived immigrants in Canadian society. The interviewed people who had had the opportunity to have a host expressed their appreciation to the Host Program offered through Immigrant Services Society. Implications for the social work profession, issues related to an ethnic sensitive approach at the micro and the macro level are presented. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

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This dissertation is manuscript-based. It contains an introduction, a literature review, a conclusion along with the four research papers that constitute its core. The four substantive papers reexamine the sources of earnings differences by race and immigration status in Canada. I address two major methodological issues in the relevant literature: the measurement of experience and the modeling of the relations between the factors known to influence earnings. Data from Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) was analyzed. The first two papers examine biases in the estimates of wage disparities due to error in the measurement of experience. They do so using two conventional estimation techniques: ordinary least squares (OLS) with dummy variables, and the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. The third and fourth papers explore deficiencies in OLS-based modeling techniques. The third paper does so by separately analyzing the relationships between racial and immigrant group statuses and access to job-related training, and then the relationship between statuses and training, on one hand, and earnings on the other. The final paper uses structural equation modeling to further examine the relationship between group status and earnings, this time explicitly incorporating the mediating effects of job types, and job-related training. The papers reveal that inadequate measurement of work experience results in overestimates of the wage disadvantage of visible minority immigrants. Furthermore, some of the wage disadvantage of this group stems from limited access to job-related training.

During the last fifty years, family life has noticeably changed in industrialized countries. Among many changes, it appears that there is a shift from a "family dominated" society to a more "individualistic" society where the concept of family loses its importance, family ties weakens, and elders lose their essential roles within the family because the continuity between generations in respect to family traditions and values is stopped. Ethnic-elders have different expectations from their family members based on their ethnic-identity, family values, and the extent of their acculturation. These value differences might also influence the accessibility and provision of psycho-social services. Therefore, the purpose of the present cross-cultural study was to understand and compare different ethnic-elders' expectations from their family members and from psychosocial service providers based on their concept of perception of family values. An instrument was designed for this study implementing a 4 point-scale and vignettes. Data were collected from seniors from South Asian (Sri-Lanka), Korean, Hungarian and Jewish communities and from a group of Social Worker (N = 94). Significant differences were found between group values: overall the Social Worker group was the most individualistic/non-traditional with the Jewish group next; the South Asians and Koreans were the most family-oriented/traditional; and these attitudes were the most different from those of the Social Workers. These particularities have important implications for the delivery of social services.

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