The Roles of Social Networks and Discrimination in Socio-professional Integration: The Perspectives of Highly Educated Female Immigrants from Maghreb who Settled in Quebec City


The objective of this doctoral thesis is to understand the roles played by social networks and discrimination in the migration and professional trajectories of highly educated North African female immigrants living in Quebec City. To achieve this, two conceptual frameworks are used: the new economic sociology and theories on discrimination, notably intersectionality. Fifteen immigrants participated in semi-structured individual interviews in order to share their migration and professional experiences. The study sheds light on pre-migration processes such as the role of networks in the pre-migration professional trajectory, the non-mobilization of already established networks in Quebec, and the reluctance of these networks’ members to uncover their socio-professional status. As far as post-migration networks are concerned, difficulty establishing links with the host community members and some mistrust towards their ethno-cultural community were also observed.

Carol-Anne Gauthier
Degree: PhD
Status: Completed
Supervisors: Kamel Béji and Hélène Lee-Gosselin
Department and University: Department of Industrial Relations, Laval University
Email: carol-anne.gauthier@fsa.ulaval.ca
Link to completed thesishttps://corpus.ulaval.ca/jspui/handle/20.500.11794/27362