This study, guided by a feminist framework, aims to disclose aspects of the lived
experience of Chinese immigrant women in the Canadian labour market, to
explore the factors affecting their job search and employment opportunities, and
to identify the gaps between the experience of women and the existing policies
and programs, so as to increase our knowledge in this area and to help inform
the development of more effective and meaningful intervention strategies to
improve their situation. Recognizing the importance of the words of women, this
study adopts a qualitative design to generate rich information from the interviews
held with eight Chinese immigrant women from Hong Kong, with different
occupational backgrounds. The women's narratives reflect the disadvantaged
position of Chinese immigrant women: their exclusion from the mainstream
labour market and concentration in Chinatown. The findings refute what
traditional theories and authorities have said: that racial minority immigrant
women's personal shortcomings account for their employment problems; their
unfulfilled high expectations, culture shock, lack of confidence, lack of language
and job skills. Instead, the research findings reveal what has been omitted in
most literature: that Chinese immigrant women have been historically
discriminated against, that there are structural and systemic barriers
perpetuating their employment difficulties. The findings reveal that employment
inequality is rooted in unequal power relations and Chinese immigrant women
are triply disadvantaged due to their multiple roles as women, as immigrants, and
as racial minorities.Arts, Faculty ofSocial Work, School ofGraduat
