The Meaning of Work for Immigrant Women in the Lower Echelons of the Canadian Labor Force

This paper examines the experiences of Indo-Canadian and Greek women employed in the lower echelons of the Canadian labour force, the majority of whom are unable to communicate fluently in English. The paper begins with a phenomenological description of the circumstances surrounding the lives of women, and proceeds to locate women’s experiences within the broader social structure. It is argued that the problems experienced by immigrant women should be understood not only in terms of their “cultural” differences, but also in the context of the larger social organization and ideological structures which generate particular types of experiences.