Discrimination is still present in the workplace in Quebec

A study conducted on behalf of the Observatory on Racial Inequalities in Quebec (OIRQ) and made public on Wednesday shows that minority members experience discrimination every day in their workplaces. .

The study in question was specifically conducted on 137 people who said they had experienced racial discrimination.

We do not wish to show, by this kind of analysis, the extent of the phenomenon. It is not said that a very large percentage of the population lives from discriminationtook care to explain sociologist Victor Armony, of UQAM, one of the study’s authors.

Instead, we want to show how people express their workplace experience when these people are in the minority. We want to know how it happens on a daily basishe said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Performance complexity

Thus, three-quarters of those questioned believe that minority members need to make more effort to fit into the job than others, a form of performance complex specific to them.

Moreover, 72% believe they suffer the mental burden of being blameless for fear of being punished or losing their job.

Not surprisingly, half of respondents point out that discrimination is in the form of a degree obtained abroad that is not recognized and almost as many say the same thing about their work experience abroad.

The consequence, very often, is to land in the wrong seat, Mr. explains. Armony.

” You need to ask yourself if people are in their place in terms of qualification. We can have a job where we are highly qualified or sometimes we can have a job where we qualify correctly, but not in the field we have chosen or that we would choose if we had more options. “

One of the consequences of this lack of recognition is to be given fewer responsibilities. One of the survey respondents said: When people talk to me like I was a 5-year-old kid when I had a master’s degree and wrote articles, more complex works inspired me more intellectually than works. given me, I think it’s pretty big. .

Ethnicity, accent and other grounds

Among the reasons why respondents say they experience discrimination, predominate is ethnicity, followed by accent, being a racialized woman, nationality or migration status, family name and religion.

The first form of discrimination, so far, consists of micro-aggressions. We also talk about certain behaviors, looks, gestures, and teasing words.

At this level we see more subtle mechanisms of systematic discrimination, explains Victor Armony. For example, he says, these people believed that their accent may play a role in their not getting promotion.

Respondents ’reactions range from a range of emotions from anger to apathy and the coping tactics mean they tend to pay attention to their appearance, do anything to be great. at work and sometimes just laugh at it or just look for avoidance.

The researchers concluded that Discrimination does not necessarily require malice on the part of the actors to appear at its systematic nature may motivate individuals to engage in discriminatory acts without their knowledge.

Cultural change

Victor Armony acknowledges that we cannot compare the past, because this research is still in its infancy and, above all, the context has changed significantly.

” We can speak of a paradox. We now know more in Quebec in 2022 the existence of racism, so we talk more about it. People who have also experienced it as victims are more aware of it. “

Nor is it undeniable that things can be better than in the past. There were gestures that came out. The sensitivity to diversity today in the private sector and in the public sector in Quebec almost testifies to a cultural change. We were no longer in 1990 or 2000 in Quebec.

He also added that the current situation of the whole work is always a positive factor because it rises and everyone rises, including those who fall behind.