Immigration is one of the most important topics in the country today. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the foreign born accounted for 18.6 percent of the labor force in 2023, up from 18.1 percent in 2022. The American Sociological Association wrote about a climate of exclusion toward immigrants and how their social position in the United States impacts their health.
Exclusion can show up in a number of ways. This includes conversations about how immigrants don’t deserve their economic opportunities and outcomes. It also includes name bias, accent bias, education bias and through affinity bias – which is when people favor those who share the same interests and backgrounds as themselves. This can lead to immigrants being treated as if they don’t belong.
As a child of immigrants, I bring multiple strengths. My parents are from India, I was born in Singapore, I was raised in Canada, and I am living and working in the US. These add to my value in our workplace.
Immigrants fall into different definitions, from first generation, to second generation, to third generation. Regardless of when they arrived, they bring a wealth of unique perspectives but continue to face challenges in the workplace. Where do we go wrong?
Understanding Different Kinds of Intelligence
It helps to begin by understanding that we talk a lot about certain kinds of intelligences but not others. We are familiar with IQ – intellectual quotient, and EQ – emotional quotient, but are not as familiar with CQ – cultural quotient, a globally recognized way of assessing how effective we are in culturally diverse situations. The good news is we can learn and grow our CQ over time.
How do we Learn More from Immigrants?
A lot of immigrants have been taught that to fit in, they should keep their head down and not draw too much attention to the challenges they face and the contributions they bring. These behaviors are known as survival techniques used to adapt to one’s surroundings.
Throughout history, we have engaged with immigrants, but through artifacts, food, music, holidays and festivals. We are missing the opportunities to engage with them through stories.
What Impact Does Immigration Have on Workplaces?
We can highlight the value of immigrants through their lived experiences. Their insights can positively influence our products, services, and culture of inclusion at work.
What we Should do Instead
The following actions can help us understand the strengths brought by immigrants:
- Start by sharing your own cultural roots with a coworker
- Ask for feedback on a project from a culturally diverse stakeholder
- Watch a movie, read a book, or listen to a TED talk from a different country
- Provide growth opportunities so immigrants can showcase skills
- Write and feature culturally diverse profiles at work
What Barriers Stand in the Way?
- Passive Listening – listening to respond instead of listening to understand limits us from learning about people more holistically
- Biases and Stereotypes – in trying to make sense of our world, we sometimes create shortcuts that oversimplify people
- One Size Fits All – this approach overlooks the complexities within immigrant communities and assumes everyone has the same experiences
Try Using This Framework Instead
Ruchika Tulshyan, author of Inclusion on Purpose, introduced the BRIDGE framework as an approach to cultivating an inclusion mindset.
According to her, the 6 steps involved include::
Be uncomfortable
Reflect (on what you don’t know)
Invite feedback
Defensiveness doesn’t help
Grow from your mistakes
Expect that change takes time
In Closing
It may appear as if we are going from exclusion (unwelcoming) to inclusion (welcoming) of immigrants. Truthfully, a lot of us are stuck in places of segregation – where we set someone apart from others or integration – where we bring someone into the dominant ways of doing things. There is room to grow.
It is important for organizations to identify the strengths of immigrants in our workplaces. Afterall, connecting our individual differences creates a string of multiple lenses and helps us connect, communicate and solve complex problems. The future is ours to embark on.
