The Federal government has indicated that it sees the recruitment of international students as a means of economic competitive advantage. Measures have been introduced to liberalize entry provisions and create new paths to residency. However, the policy and practice governing international student mobility is framed not only by the Federal and provincial departments but by a range of other stakeholders including universities themselves.
This project addressed a central theme within the Partnership by focusing on how social institutions engender resilience. It addressed the multiple ways in which universities – as social institutions – are implicated in creating and/or hindering spaces of student resilience at two levels. At the structural level we were interested in how institutions played a role in the selection and admission of students, the way they shaped and regulated international student activity in terms of differing forms of labour – study and paid employment – and the supports they provided to students. These supports come into play over the duration of a study program but can also be present post graduation if and when a student seeks to change their status from international student to permanent resident. At the individual level, we sought to examine this process by documenting the experiences of international students themselves. Rather than focusing on their individual motivations to come to Canada we wished to consider how they individually and collectively navigated, exploited and contested existing institutional structures at the local level.
Research Activities (12 months – January 2018 – December 2018) – This project proposed a qualitative instrumental case study methodology (Stake, 1995) that allowed us to capture the particularities and complexities of the two different universities in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. We used document analysis and semi-structured interviews.
- Stage One – Mapping International Student Mobility in Canada – a brief review and textual analysis of the Government’s policies and practices from the implementation of the Canadian Experience Class (2008) to recent reforms of the student study permit. Purpose: To provide the broad context that frames the activities of universities and student mobility.
- Stage Two – Detailed environmental scan of the two universities’ activities vis-à-vis international students. This entailed the collection and review of information provided to prospective and incoming international students. Key informant interviews with officials in international offices (IO) in the two universities were also conducted (approximately 10). Purpose: To provide an ‘official picture’ of the universities initiatives vis-à-vis international student and how these initiatives contribute to or limit resilience.
- Stage Three – One to one interviews with international students currently enrolled at the two universities (approximately 40). Semi-structured personal interviews were an ideal method to gain in-depth understanding of everyday experiences from individuals’ perspective, while also gaining insights into the role of broader structures in shaping these experiences (Bennet 2002; Longhurst 2010). Students were identified through on campus clubs, posters and where possible through IO offices. Purpose: To document the ways in which students experiences contradict and/or affirm universities ‘official picture’. To develop a profile of how students engage in ‘strategic’ displays of resilience. Following these interviews we interviewed some community based service organizations such as the Catholic Centre for Immigrants and local legal aid clinics.
Principal Investigators:
- Christina Gabriel, ChristinaGabriel@Cunet.Carleton.Ca
- Luisa Veronis, lveronis@uottawa.ca
Research Assistants:
- Louise Cockram, Carleton University
- Xiaohao Wu, uOttawa
- Rachel Walker, uOttawa
- Somunachi Okee Aguguo, uOttawa
Community Partners:
- Carleton University;
- Ottawa University;
- IRCC;
- Immigrant Women Services Ottawa;
- Hire Immigrants Ottawa;
- LASI Coalition;
- World Skills
- Gabriel, C., Ghosh, S., Schlosser, F., Veronis, L., and Walton-Roberts, M., (Forthcoming) “Supporting International Student Resilience throughout the Migrant Journey.” In Building Migrant Resilience in Cities. Editors Preston, V., Shields, J and Bedard, T., McGill University Press.
- C. Gabriel, F. Schlosser, S. Ghosh, M. Walton-Roberts, L. Alfieri-Sladen.“Universities and colleges: Supporting student resilience” In International Migration and Social Resilience: Individual and Collective Resistance. Valerie Preston, John Shields, Tara Bedard eds [submitted and accepted; contract McGill-Queens].
- Gabriel, C. & L. Veronis. 2024. A social resilience lens to universities’ contradictory role in international students’ experiences. Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in migration and integration, Migration Working Group, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, March 26 (hybrid event).
- Research Digest: The effects of linguistic capital: English- & French-Speaking international students’ experiences at a bilingual university
- Research Digest: Les effets du capital linguistique: Les expériences d’étudiants étrangers à une université bilingue
- Christina Gabriel, January 26, 2023, “Are International Students Disposable Workers” Webinar Panel, Organizing Committee Member, Building Migration Resilience in Cities.
- Christina Gabriel, and Luisa Veronis. “Moved to Study: International Students, Work Permits and Visas,” International Studies Association Conference, Montreal 2023.
- Wu, X. & Veronis, L. (2022). English-Speaking International Students’ Perceptions and Experiences in a Bilingual University: A Geographical Approach to Linguistic Capital. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 66: 542-555. DOI: 10.1111/cag.12755
- Wu, X. & Veronis, L. (2022). English-Speaking International Students’ Perceptions and Experiences in a Bilingual University: A Geographical Approach to Linguistic Capital. The Canadian Geographer/ Le Géographe Canadien.
- Christina Gabriel, and Luisa Veronis. “Ambivalent Mobilities? A Social Resilience Lens to the Experiences of International Students in Canada,” Canadian Ethnic Studies Conference, Halifax. November 2022.
- Christina Gabriel, “Universities and Colleges: Supporting Student Resilience” Portraits of Resilience: International Students, May 19, 2021. Round Table Participant, Sponsored by Building Migration Resilience in Cities.
- Christina Gabriel, March 9, 2021, “Ottawa, Is There a Problem? International Student Numbers, Job Experience and Pathways to Permanent Residency” Webinar Panel, Organizing Committee Member, Building Migration Resilience In Cities.
- Wu, X., Veronis, L., & Walker, R. (2021). English- and French-speaking international graduate students’ experiences with on-campus and off-campus employment in a bilingual context. Annual meeting of the Association of Canadian Geographers (CAG), UNBC, Prince George, CB (virtual), 7-11 June.
- Veronis, L., Walker, R., & Wu, X. 2021. International students’ mobility and experiences of place at a bilingual university. Canadian Centre for Studies and Research on Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL, virtual), Ottawa, ON, 30 April-2 May.
- 2020: Best Poster Silver Award, Pathways to Prosperity (P2P) Annual National Conference 2020: Wu, X., Veronis, L., & R. Walker. “English- and French-Speaking International Students’ Experiences and Perspectives at a Bilingual University,” (virtual conference), 22-23 November.
