A recent study from the University at Buffalo reveals that immigrant men facing challenges in English proficiency have a better shot at employment when assisted by bilingual adults in their community. Surprisingly, this assistance doesn’t seem to have a similar impact on women dealing with the same language barrier.
The study takes a broader perspective on language proficiency and job outcomes, considering not just individual factors but also introducing the concept of “community-level language resources.” This term refers to the percentage of bilingual adults in a community who share the same native language.
Community resources
“This study calls attention to the importance of these community-level resources when developing policies for immigrant populations, like mandated language services and employment programs,” the researchers explain. “Investment in these policies can enrich community-level language resources.”
The study doesn’t clarify why there are gender differences in the connections between resources and employment outcomes. However, the researchers offer some possible explanations for this disparity.
“If communities have different gender norms and the majority of bilingual individuals in the community consists mainly of men, immigrant women with limited English proficiency may have a harder time getting language assistance,” they explain. “Community language resources might also lack relevance if immigrant women with limited English proficiency are hired mostly for jobs where that proficiency is not a job requirement.”
Improving outcomes
The study drew on data gathered between 2012 and 2016 from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The sample included 1,300 immigrants (individuals born outside the United States with non-U.S. citizen parents) residing in five counties across Western New York.
While past research has explored whether community resources contribute to improved employment outcomes for immigrants, these studies have typically focused on ethnic community resources, examining the size of a co-ethnic population in a particular geographic area. Notably, they often emphasize community resources related to language. However, it’s crucial to recognize that ethnic resources and community language resources are not interchangeable concepts.
“Ethnic community boundaries are also not always the same as linguistic community boundaries. Multiple ethnic groups can share one language, like Arabic languages spoken by ethnic groups in both Middle Eastern and North African countries, while some ethnic groups are composed of subgroups speaking different languages,” the researchers conclude. “An ethnic community with many co-ethnic members may provide emotional and material support, but may not have a high level of community language resources if only a few members are bilingual.”
