Discrimination in the Labour Force

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Since the end of World War two, Canada has experienced a boom in immigrant arrivals throughout the years. As the Canadian society did not experience the arrival of so many immigrants before, part of the population generated tensions, stereotypes and prejudices towards visible minorities. More recently, these attitudes towards new comers have reached the workforce, creating inequalities regarding the immigrants, by the dominant group. This essay will be examining racism and discrimination in the work force by looking at the causes, the consequences and the life experiences of those who suffer from this issue in today’s Canadian society.
To better understand this problem, discrimination in the workforce, can be defined as actual actions taken by an individual or an institution, to justify an unjust behavior regarding someone’s physical, psychological or social characteristics (i.e. social class, sexuality) (Newman, 2012, p.188). In the case of racism/discrimination in the workforce, this definition can be relevant when an employee or someone applying for a job is given a different treatment because of one of the characteristics mentioned above resulting in inequality towards that person, and therefore disrespecting the human’s rights.
Causes
First, discrimination at work can be explained by three main attitudes towards the victims: “stereotypes, prejudices and racism” (Idriss, Ries & Heckmann, 2011, p.4). In the case of stereotypes in the workplace and in hiring practices, they are thoughts or opinions about one group of people due to generalizations. For instance, an employer refuses to hire a black person he believes how media, culture and his surroundings portraits blacks (i.e. aggressive). Similarly, prejudices are opinions a...

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