Cracking the Cement Ceiling from Within

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With funding by Workplace Skills Initiative (WSI) division of HRSDC, a team of researchers and practitioners has completed Phase 1 of a 3-year pilot project to identify and mitigate organizational practices that limit access to management positions for highly skilled immigrants, and consequently limit organizational growth and development. Qualitative data was collected via focus groups for human resource professionals and highly skilled immigrants, in private, public, and non-profit sectors, in Montreal, Toronto, Thunder Bay, and Ottawa/Gatineau. Participants shared perceptions of organizational practices to identify practices related to talent management, professional development, and communication practices that unwittingly create barriers to advancement for skilled immigrants, and identify strategies to lower them. This interactive workshop will be a forum to discuss findings of Phase 1 and their implications for employers who seek to create an inclusive workplace to attract and retain skilled immigrants. Participants will take away with them insights and strategies for their own organizations. They will observe a training module based on a computer animated game to be used for professional development. All participants will have free access to modules as they are developed, and will be invited to test learning module efficacy.

Stream: Learning, Education, Training

Paper: , Cracking the Cement Ceiling from Within

Linda Manning is President of Leadership Mosaic, Inc., dedicated to comprehensive and measurable integration of diversity into the Canadian workplace through strategic learning solutions.

Educated in the U.S., she holds a doctorate in International Economics, and has applied her skills in international trade and development to her teaching at the university and colleges in Canada and the U.S., her research in the field of economic development, and her work with private organizations. She has over 15 years’ academic, industry, and training experience, with a strong background in training the trainer, having served 8 years as a consultant with the Educational Testing Service in the U.S. Linda works with businesses, educational institutions, and community groups to develop learning solutions. She currently leads a multi-million dollar project funded by HRSDC designed to facilitate and foster organizational growth in the face of the impending skills gap by helping Canadian small to medium sized enterprises develop strategies for advancing highly skilled immigrants into the leadership positions left empty by retirements.

Dr. Hatala is currently an Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University in the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development, Baton Rouge. Additionally, Dr. Hatala works for a Social Capital Development firm called Flowork International. His academic research focuses on social networking behaviors, social capital, human resource development, career development and the transition to the labour market. To date, Dr. hatala has developed a number of innovative systems and assessment tools including; Social Network Management System, Strategic Job Search Management System and a series of assessments including the SELF (Social Exploration Learning Form) and the BEST (Barriers to entrepreneurship success tools).

KRISTINA SCHNEIDER started out consulting for Documedia and as of November 2005 officially joined the team as Director of eLearning. Prior to this, she worked as an Educational Technologist with the Centre for Instructional Technology at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business. In collaboration with faculty, she designed higher education distance learning programs. She was also formerly the Director of Instructional and Interactive Design for ilasalle, where she spearheaded the development of over 1,800 hours of eLearning courses. Her career path has enabled her to work in the training and multimedia industries. She has developed considerable work experience in systemic needs analysis, instructional systems design, knowledge management and project management. With an undergraduate degree in Communication Studies and a Master’s degree in Educational Technology near completion, she continues to keep herself up-to-date with the latest theories and practices in training and technology. Kristina has been on the Executive Committee of the Alliance eLearning since October 2006 and has been President of the Committee since November 2007. Furthermore, she’s a regular eLearning conference presenter. Recently, she presented at the ISPI Montreal Conference (September 2006), was invited as a special guest presenter at the Canadian Forces Training and Development Conference (May 2007) and delivered technology showcase presentation on eLab at the Brandon Hall Innovations in Learning Conference (September 2007). This September, she returns to the Innovations in Learning Conference as a presenter. She also teaches eLearning course with Technologia Formation.