OMNES : The Journal of multicultural society

Current Issue

OMNES: The Journal of Multicultural Society - Vol. 14 , No. 1

[ Article ]
OMNES: The Journal of Multicultural Society - Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 102-125
ISSN: 2093-5498 (Print)
Print publication date 31 Jul 2020
Received 29 Oct 2019 Revised 14 Nov 2019 Accepted 04 Jun 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14431/omnes.2020.07.10.2.102

How Are Migrants Viewed in the Eyes of Employers? Double Exclusion among Immigrants in Taiwan
Hae Na Kim ; Yun Hsiang Hsu* ; Chih-Yu Chen ; Kuo-Jung Lin
University College of Teacher Education, Klagenfurt, Austria
National Central University, Taiwan
National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Chihlee University of Technology, Taiwan

Correspondence to : *Yun Hsiang Hsu, National Central University, Taiwan, yhhsu@cc.ncu.edu.tw


Abstract

While many countries are open to those born elsewhere being part of their nation, surveys find that this acceptance comes with a certain prerequisite—that it is important to speak the dominant language. This prerequisite has been continuously observed and studied in the field of labor market performance. This study surveys 1,043 employers in Taiwan for their willingness to hire foreign brides from Southeast Asia or Mainland China. The link between the proficiency of the use of language among immigrants and direct job discrimination in Taiwanese workplaces is confirmed. Results show that vocational trainings provided by the government to immigrants are not positively associated with a willingness to hire among employers. Policy recommendations are provided with regard to the establishment of language courses.


Keywords: immigrant workers, gender, marriage migration, vocational training, Taiwan

References
1. Aguilera, M. B., & Massey, D. S. (2003). Social capital and the wages of Mexican migrants: New hypotheses and tests. Social Forces, 82(2), 671-701.
2. Blake, H. L., Kneebone, L. B., & McLeod, S. (2017). The impact of oral English proficiency on humanitarian migrants’ experiences of settling in Australia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(6), 1-17.
3. Borjas, G. J. (1994). Ethnicity, neighborhoods, and human capital externalities (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 4912). Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w4912
4. Borjas, G. J. (2006). Making it in America: Social mobility in the immigrant population (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 12088). Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w12088
5. Bourdieu, P. (1993). Sociology in question. London, UK: Sage.
6. Calvo-Armengol, A., & Zenou, Y. (2005). Job matching, social network and word-of-mouth communication. Journal of Urban Economics, 57(3), 500-522.
7. Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95-S120.
8. Constable, N. (2005). Cross-border marriages: Gender and mobility in transnational Asia. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.
9. Creswell, J. W. (2012). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10. Del Rosario, V. O. (1994). Lifting the smokescreen: Dynamics of mail-order bride migration from the Philippines. The Hague, Netherlands: Institute of Social Studies.
11. Delander, L., Hammarstedt, M., Månsson, J., & Nyberg, E. (2005). Integration of immigrants: The role of language proficiency and experience. Evaluation Review, 29(1), 24-41.
12. Dietz, J. (2010). Introduction to the special issue on employment discrimination against immigrants. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(2), 104-112.
13. Glodava, M., & Onizuka, R. (1994). Mail-order brides: Women for sale. Fort Collins, CO: Alsken.
14. Hsia, H. C. (2002). The foreign bride phenomenon under the internationalization of capital. Taipei, Taiwan: Tang-shan.
15. Hsu, C. F., & Zho, F. H. (2007). Employment discrimination among mainland Chinese spouses in Chiayi. Community Development Quarterly, 119, 402-427.
16. Lan, P. (2008). Migrant women’s bodies as boundary markers: Reproductive crisis and sexual control in the new ethnic frontiers of Taiwan Signs. Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 33(4), 833-861.
17. Lin, K. J., & Cheng, C. Y. (2013). Willingness and strategies to hire foreign spouses among employers. Taipei, Taiwan: National Immigration Agency.
18. National Immigration Agency (2003). Survey for living condition among foreign and Mainland Chinese spouses. Taipei, Taiwan: Ministry of Interior. (In Chinese)
19. National Immigration Agency (2008). Survey for living condition among foreign and Mainland Chinese spouses. Taipei, Taiwan: Ministry of Interior. (In Chinese)
20. National Immigration Agency (2013). Survey for living condition among foreign and Mainland Chinese spouses. Taipei, Taiwan: Ministry of Interior. (In Chinese)
21. Ordoñez, R. Z. (1997). Mail order brides: An emerging community. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), Filipino Americans: Transformation and identity (121-142). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
22. Park, J. (2011). Job-related training of immigrants. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 23(3), 3-15.
23. Piper, N. (1997). International marriage in Japan: Race and gender perspectives. Gender, Place and Culture, 4(3), 321-338.
24. Piper, N., & Roces, M. (2003). Introduction: Marriage and migration in an age of globalization. In N. Piper & M. Roces (Eds.), Wife or worker? Asian women and migration (pp. 1-22). Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield.
25. Piracha, M., Tani, M., & Vaira-Lucero, M. (2013). Social capital and immigrants’ labour market performance (IZA Discussion Paper Series, No. 7274), Institute of Labor Economics. Retrieved from https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/izaizadps/dp7274.htm
26. Ren, S., Zhang, J., & Hennessy, D. A. (2018). Psychological strains and psychological distress among Chinese rural migrant workers. Asia and Pacific Migration Journal, 27(2), 231-241.
27. Seol, D. H., Kim, Y. T., Kim, H. M., Yoon, H. S., Lee, H. K., Yim, K. T., ... Han, G. (2005). Foreign wives’ life in Korea: Focusing on the policy of welfare and health. Gwacheon, South Korea: Ministry of Health and Welfare. (In Korean)
28. Suzuki, N. (2000). Between two shores: Transnational projects and Filipina wives in/from Japan. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23(4), 431-444.
29. Tashakkori, A., & Teddlie, C. (2003). Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30. Wang, H. Z. (2001). Social stratification, Vietnamese partners, migration and the Taiwan labor market. Quarterly Social Studies, 41(March), 99-127.
31. Wang, H. Z. (2007). Hidden spaces of resistance of the subordinated: Case studies from Vietnamese female migrant partners in Taiwan. The International Migration Review, 41(3), 706-727.
32. Wu, Y. L. (2015). Applying Culturally Responsive Pedagogy to the Vocational Training of Immigrants. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(2), 177-181.

Biographical Note

Hae Na Kim has served as a Visiting Scholar of Educational Science at the University College of Teacher Education in Austria and as a Research Fellow at the National Central University in Taiwan. Her recent research focuses on career development, immigration policy, organizational culture, vocational education and training. E-mail: haenak97@gmail.com

Yun-Hsiang Hsu is an associate professor in the Institute of Law and Government at National Central University in Taiwan. He has also worked as a civil servant in several government agencies, including the Population Forecasting Unit at the National Development Council and the Ministry of Labor. Dr. Hsu’s research interests focus on policy and program performance evaluation and various labor issues, including domestic employment. E-mail: yhhsu@cc.ncu.edu.tw

Chih-Yu Cheng is a Professor of Labor Studies at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. His research focuses on Labor Relations, Labor Policy and Human Resource Policy. E-mail: cycheng@nccu.edu.tw

Kuo-jung Lin, Professor of International Trade Department, Chihlee University of Technology in Taiwan. His research focuses on labor economics, international economics, social and cultural adaptation of foreign immigrants and migrant workers E-mail: charlie@mail.chihlee.edu.tw