The Colour of Change: The New Demographics of Canada
March 19, 2010
WATSON SCOTT SWAIL, President & CEO of the Educational Policy Institute
This past Wednesday I was a guest on The Bill Good Show on CKNW radio in Vancouver. The discussion focused on demographic data released by StatsCan about the educational outcomes of Canadians. At point was the high achievement rates of ethnic groups compared to white, or Euro, Canadians. Based on 2006 Census data, the university degree attainment rates of Canadians, by ethnicity, are as follows:
- Chinese Canadian 90%
- Korean Canadian 75%
- Fillipino Canadian 59%
- Arab Canadians 52%
- white ( Euro) Canadian 26%
The question posed by Bill Good was, “What implications does this have for Canada?” Bill further made comment that during the Olympics, the television coverage showed thousands of flag-waving Canadians, many of whom were ethnic minorities, cheering and being proud to be Canadian. But what does this shift in demographic balance mean for the country as a whole? Will there be a white backlash at some point?
The truth is, Canada has done well by diversity. It is one of the world’s leaders in showing how ethnic diversity can work well when embraced by the majority. That stated, we all know that this does not mean that prejudice does not exist in Canada. It is very much alive. Just a quick Google and one will find numerous papers and presentations on race issues in Canada.
But second- and third-generation Canadians far outpace white Canadians in post-secondary attainment for a number of reasons, the most important being the valuation of education. Most Canadians, if not all, understand that the higher level of education one has, the higher potential earning power they hold. And statistics clearly illustrate this. The soon-to-be-defunct Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation’s The Price of Knowledge (2009) publication reported that those with a BA earned, on average, about $56k/year, compared to $39k for high school grades. Those with post-bachelor/professional degrees earned $66k. This type of “gapping” is relatively understood.
Why, then, do only 26 percent of white Canadian’s earn a university degree compared to 90 percent of Chinese Canadians, 75 percent of Korean Canadians, and 59 percent of Fillipino Canadians?
There are several reasons, but two stand out. First, and perhaps most importantly, is the attitude toward work, learning, and career held by Canadians. While not universal, many of the New Canadians to Canada bring with them higher expectations of what it takes to succeed in life. They come from societies that study harder, longer, and much more advanced in their K-12 schooling than our home-grown youth. Talk to immigrants who come to Canada or the United States in the middle and high school years about the educational experience. They are typically far more skilled in mathematics and science than their peers and find the system dysfunctional. If not for support and focus at home, these students would "lose years" of academic time.
In addition, white Canadians are more cynical about education and the link to society. School kids, especially boys, are more interested in hockey, lacrosse, and Maxim Online than they are about chemistry. And it is arguable that the amount of time devoted to study has declined over the years, although I have not data to support that assumption. But it is clear that there is a significant attitude difference between white students and those of second- or third-generation immigrants. I would also suggest that as immigrants become multi-generational, they probably begin to skew toward other students. Simply put, they become “too Canadian,” in effect.
Secondly, white males, in particular, have broader access to trade and other, non-university type of work. Many white Canadians, and we are historically a pretty white nation (please, not history lessons...), grow up in working-class families and take on working-class jobs. Beside the CMSF findings above, there are still well-paying blue collar jobs. And even though we know that getting a university degree provides more opportunity, for many Canadians, trade work is either more in line with what they want in life or it becomes their destiny because they aren’t prepared to move on to PSE.
Bill Good asked me if this would become a problem in the future for Canada. It could. But not because of the diversity argument, but because Canada will need to ensure that it has a workforce of diversity AND talent to compete on a global scale. It does so now. But will it in 20 years? Probably not if only 26 percent of white Canadians have university degrees.
This leaves us with the real question: how do we change this trend?
Have a good weekend. WSS>
DR. WATSON SCOTT SWAIL is the founding president and CEO of the Educational Policy Institute, with offices in Canada, the US, and Australia. Dr. Swail is well known for his research on educational opportunity and post-secondary access and success. Before establishing EPI, he served as Vice President for The Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, DC, founding director of the Pell Institute for the Study of Educational Opportunity, Senior Research Scientist at SRI International, and Associate Director of Policy Analysis at The College Board in Washington, DC. He is a former classroom teacher and received his bachelor's degree from the University of Manitoba, master's degree from Old Dominion University, and doctorate in education policy from The George Washington University.
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