Department:  Educational Administration, Foundation and Psychology.
Research Topic:
Foreign-Educated Teachers in Canada: Paralyzed Human Resources                        
     Every year, a significant number of foreign-educated teachers migrate into Canada. The purpose of my study is to explore the difficulties they experience in accessing employment commensurate with their qualifications and experience.  I conduct a search of the growing literature on barriers faced by professionals in the context of international migration, and also draw on my own personal experience. Finally, I formulate proposals for the Federal and Provincial Governments of Canada to enable migrants to utilize their professional skills in the job market, to their benefit and to the benefit of Canadian society.

      I understand the difficulties faced by internationally trained teachers in Canada because I myself was unable to find a teaching position when I came to Canada in 2002, despite six years of my teaching experience and five years of post-secondary education in Ethiopia. I fled my country after I was involved in the student movement in Addis Ababa University, during which government police stormed our university compound and killed university students for demanding basic human rights and freedom of expression.  This terrible experience led me to flee my home country and become a refugee in Nairobi, Kenya, where I found myself sleeping on the streets, until I had the good fortune to be invited by the Government of Canada to resettle in Winnipeg.
My resettlement in Canada has involved difficulties as well as opportunities. I want to examine these experiences, to find meaning in past sufferings and to contribute to breaking down barriers that others coming after me might otherwise face.