Recap: Tienen Alas forum on supporting immigrant professionals

Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

With those words from labor leader César Chávez, Latino Equity Fund Executive Director Javier Juarez welcomed a June 10 gathering in the Boston Foundation’s Edgerley Center for Civic Leadership to consider challenges to full and appropriate employment for foreign-born residents. Before a presentation from researchers from the Gastón Institute, Juarez turned the mic to SkillWorks Director Andre Green for a timely contextualizing introduction. 

According to Green, there are approximately 140,000 foreign-born workers in Massachusetts who are unemployed or underemployed. Lack of English proficiency is a big barrier for them but not lack of willingness to learn: There are 25,000 people on wait lists for ESOL training. ESOL, or English for Speakers of Other Languages, offerings in the state are uncoordinated and underfunded. A coalition of 40+ nonprofits, research groups, and foundations have been advocating for An Act to promote Economic Mobility through ESOL (S.1326)—many audience members would be going directly to the State House to testify in the bill’s hearing. The law would invest $13 million in vocational ESOL and coordinate programs across the Commonwealth. “ESOL training leads to a 29 percent increase in weekly wages,” said Green. As importantly, he added, “Without these workers, our economy will shrink."

A new report from the Gastón Institute at UMass Boston, Tienen alas pero no las pueden usar: Stories of immigrants in search of work credentials, supported by TBF’s Latino Equity Fund and SkillWorks, adds evidence and urgency to Green’s call for action. Translated to English, the title—They have wings but cannot use them—aptly describes the potential lost when foreign-born and/or foreign-trained workers and professionals cannot apply their talents and experiences here in the Commonwealth.

Gastón Institute researchers Phillip Granberry, Maria Pache de Athayde, and Jonathan Vega-Martínez shared stats and analysis from the mixed-methods study. Of 301 survey respondents, 55 percent are currently working; 45 percent are overqualified for their current job—for a third of those it is because of lack of credentials. Credentials are certifications or authorizations required to practice any number of professions, from surgeon to teacher to nail artist. Women, Latinos, and people with higher educational attainment have more difficulty due to credentialing. What keeps them from getting credentialed? English language proficiency is listed as the top limiting factor, with cost and complexity of the process right behind. Researchers estimate 4,500 people in Massachusetts face credentialing challenges each year. 

Interestingly, the researchers learned that their hypothesis that credentialing obstacles are mostly time and money was not quite right. The real driving factor is often access to information: “There are pathways to credentialing, but they are hidden." The what and the how are unclear and the process highly complex. One respondent called it “accessible but not intelligible.” The resulting disorientation is important—affecting individuals’ “aspirational capital.” In other words, the inscrutability of the system messed with people’s sense of self, taxing energy and emotional states already drained by managing change, dealing with dislocation and isolation, and nonstop demands for adaptability.

Report Recommendations 

1. Create a statewide clearinghouse/repository of credentialing info—multilingual, actively maintained and updated.
2. Develop a network of community-based orgs and nonprofits to implement programs that support immigrants through the credentialing process. 
3. Support the funding and implementation of professional English courses, including instruction on U.S. work culture. 
4. Expand funding for research to discover more/betters support for immigrants in the credentialing process.

With all of that in mind, Gastón Institute Director Lorna Rivera took the stage as moderator with a panel of leaders working closely on ESOL, credentialing, and other immigrant concerns. English for New Bostonians Executive Director Claudia Green, Eastern Bank Foundation Fellow Eva Millona, and Caribbean Youth Club Executive Director Nickey Nesbett shared what their organizations have been focused on lately, as well as stories illustrating findings reported by researchers. For instance, the lack of customization in ESOL training makes for less than ideal learning situations, with foreign PhD-holders and students with very little education getting the same instruction. Nesbett recalled being an undergrad going “to college with seasoned educators. They had experience and a British education which would be revered coming from the UK, but not accepted from the Caribbean. They had to start over again according to American standards, or move away from education altogether,” which many did.