Measuring the Impact of 21st Century Experiential Learning on new Immigrants Workplace Performance

ORI Grant ID
548497-2019
Research Area(s): Social Innovation, User Experience Design | Funder: SSHRC | Program: CCSIF
PI Name: Ginger Grant | Faculty/Department: Office of Research and Innovation

Canadian employers have consistently identified that internationally trained professionals (ITPs) are not hired for three key reasons: (1) lack of familiarity with Canadian workplace practices; (2) inability to effectively assess the relevance of work and education experience obtained abroad; and (3) lack of experience working in a typical Canadian team/matrix workplace environment. These barriers create significant underemployment for these highly skilled professionals who have immigrated to Canada, and this project is focused on overcoming these three identified barriers. ACCES Employment (ACCES) assists ITP's who are facing barriers to employment that prevent them from integrating into the Canadian job market into their field of work that reflects their past experience. The challenge faced by ACCES is how to measure the impact of both implemented and planned experiential learning opportunities on the employment readiness and actual employment of the ITP's who participate in their bridging programs. The key objective of this study is to develop an evidence-informed base of information which will help measure the impact of both implemented and planned experiential learning opportunities on the employment readiness and actual employment of the ITP's who participate in ACCES' bridging programs. This project is intended to research and measure the impact of these learning experiences to determine efficacy and effectiveness from both an ITP and employer perspective, and to use this data to inform decisions about which are and which are not effective.