Canvas ceiling

Canvas ceiling is a metaphor used to capture a multitude of barriers affecting refugee workforce integration (cf. glass ceiling and bamboo ceiling). The notion of the ceiling is used to illuminate the limits that a particular social group of refugees and asylum seekers encounters in their career journey. Canvas ceiling encompasses institutional-, organizational- and individual-level challenges that refugees encounter in accessing and advancing quality employment within the receiving society. Refugee workforce integration is especially difficult to facilitate due to the interplay of various factors across multiple levels (i.e. institutional, organizational and individual-level factors). That is, refugees experience interrelated effects of compound challenges that they must overcome in order to achieve adequately remunerated and commensurate employment with prospects for professional advancement. These challenges span around: immigration regulations, qualifications accreditation and education, socio-political climate, employers, self-employment related issues, support organizations' operations and management, individual demographics, language, social networks, psychological responses, and motivation of individual refugees.
The notion of Canvas Ceiling is first introduced in the International Journal of Management Reviews in 2020.
The notion of Canvas refers to the temporary shelters made of canvas that refugees camp in. See Refugee Camp.
The notion of Ceiling refers to the invisible barriers that prevent a certain social group from moving up the career ladder. See Bamboo Ceiling and Glass Ceiling for comparative metaphors.
Refugee workforce integration
See also: Refugee Employment
Refugees are often faced with under-employment, unemployment and employment in informal economy. In this sense, many researchers and practitioners call for not just simple refugee employment, but a successful refugee workforce integration. Refugee workforce integration is understood to be a process in which refugees engage in economic activities (employment or self-employment), which are commensurate with individuals' professional goals and previous qualifications and experience, and provide adequate economic security and prospects for career advancement. It is ideal that refugee-receiving countries aim to facilitate refugee workforce integration, looking after the whole process in order to help refugees be self-sustainable, instead of merely promoting refugee employment, which may lead to short-term and unsustainable economic outcomes. That is, in understanding refugee employment and workforce integration, contextual settings around refugees' destination countries play a vital role.
Refugee international adjustment
International adjustment is a process of achieving a “fit between and the new environment in both work and non-work domains.” By studying refugee employment and international adjustment, Szkudlarek and colleagues identified macro-level factors that influences international adjustments.
Figure shows the macro-level factors that has been overlooked by scholars and practitioners, but are deemed important for not only refugee employment and international adjustment, but also for other migrant and expatriate counterparts.
Characteristics of Canvas Ceiling
Multiple Levels
Canvas ceiling phenomenon presents at multiple levels of analysis: Institutional, organizational and individual. The factors present in each of these levels create a complex and interrelated effect on the process and outcomes of refugee employment and workforce integration.
At institutional level, there exists the complexity of institutional-level factors impacting refugee workforce integration including an array of transnational conventions, international regulations, national legislation and policies.
At organizational level, the Canvas Ceiling phenomenon is accompanied by a multiplicity of stakeholders involved and the complexity of their operations in contributing to refugee workforce integration. Employers, support organizations, labour market intermediaries and refugee entrepreneurs all operate within the constraining environment of the institutional context in which they are located.
At individual level, refugee individuals' demographic characteristics, such as religion, ethnicity, gender and family arrangements, as well as language, social networks, and psychological health influences the outcomes of the refugee employment and workforce integration. Research also suggests that the motivation level is highly correlated to the positive outcome of refugee employment and workforce integration.
Multiple Stakeholders
Because Canvas Ceiling presents in multiple levels, it naturally attracts the attention from multiple stakeholders. Not only does it require resources and capabilities from multiple stakeholders, but also Canvas Ceiling phenomenon is highly influenced and shaped by the diverse interests of multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders are not limited to employers and organizations supporting refugees in resettlement, but also governmental organizations, politicians, educational institutions, accreditation bodies, media, general public, receiving communities, and refugee individuals.
Relational Effect
The notion of Canvas Ceiling most importantly comes with the inter-related and relational effects that cascade down, up and across the multiple levels and multiple stakeholders. Institutional level factors, for example, influences the operations of businesses trying to hire refugees, and the behaviors and attitudes of businesses towards refugee jobseekers in turn influences the individuals' motivation levels and psychological health.

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