Name and Contact Information of Researchers:

Luciara Nardon – luciara.nardon@carleton.ca

Amrita Hari – amrita.hari@carleton.ca

A Longitudinal Study of Organized Social Support for Highly-Skilled Immigrant Women’s Social and Professional Integration

Project Sponsor and Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Carleton University Project Clearance

Clearance #: 114517 Date of Clearance: October 5 2020

Invitation

You are invited to take part in a research project because you have recently participated in a survey about the impact of COVID-19 on immigrant women’s work experiences and signaled your interest in learning more about a follow up study. The information in this form is intended to help you understand what we are asking of you so that you can decide whether you agree to participate in this study. Your participation in this study is voluntary, and a decision not to participate will not be used against you in any way. As you read this form, and decide whether to participate, please ask all the questions you might have, take whatever time you need, and consult with others as you wish.

What is the purpose of the study?

This longitudinal study aims to investigate the long-term impact of using organizational and community-based programs of support towards social and professional integration of highly skilled immigrant women. In this project we will:

Investigate the experiences of social and professional integration for highly-skilled immigrant women in Ontario during their first five years and their strategies to navigate and overcome any challenges.
Explore the role of different sources of support (ethnic groups, non-governmental organizations, employers, and members of the local community) in facilitating the social and professional integration of this specific sub-set of immigrants. Additionally, we encourage highly-skilled immigrant women to reflect upon and evaluate the types of support that are available, needed, and can be enhanced to facilitate integration (e.g., mentors, agents, non-parental childcare providers, etc.) over time.

What will I be asked to do?

If you agree to take part in the study, we will ask you to:

Participate in three 60-90-minute interviews via Microsoft Teams, taking place between October 2020 and August 2024). All interviews are designed using coaching techniques and are intended to be supportive; we anticipate that they will provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your experiences and find ways of coping with challenges you may have in your social and professional integration in Canada. With your permission the interviews will be recorded using the Microsoft Teams recording function.
In between interviews, you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire that will take you about 15 minutes, providing us updates on your situation. There will be 5 questionnaires, approximately every 6 months following interviews, beginning in July 2021 till July 2023.

Risks and Inconveniences

We do not anticipate any risks to participating in this study.

Possible Benefits

This research uses interview techniques to better support participants in playing an active role in their social environment and situation. As a result, you will experience a supportive conversation and benefit from it by gaining increased awareness of your thoughts and feelings and identifying coping mechanisms to deal with your integration challenges.

Compensation/Incentives

Participants that remain in the study overtime will receive a gift card from Amazon or Walmart as a token of appreciation in December 2021, July 2023, and August 2024.

No waiver of your rights

By signing this form, you are not waiving any rights or releasing the researchers from any liability.

Withdrawing from the study

You may withdraw from the study at any time. To discard your data, please email the Principal investigator (named above) within two weeks of completing your interview or survey. Given the longitudinal nature of the study, it will not be possible to discard data collected at previous data points.

Confidentiality

We will remove all identifying information from the study data as soon as the recording of the interview or survey data is transcribed and/or verified. We will treat your personal information as confidential, although absolute privacy cannot be guaranteed. No information that discloses your identity will be released or published without your specific consent. Research records may be accessed by the Carleton University Research Ethics Board in order to ensure continuing ethics compliance. All data will be kept confidential, unless release is required by law (e.g. child abuse, harm to self or others).

The results of this study may be published or presented at an academic conference or meeting, but the data will be presented so that it will not be possible to identify any participants unless you give your express consent. You will be assigned a pseudonym so that your identity will not be directly associated with the data you have provided. All data, including coded information, will be kept in a password-protected file on a secure computer. We will password protect any research data that we store or transfer.

Data Retention

After the study is completed, your de-identified data will be retained for future research use. No photographs or images with identifiable information will be kept by the researchers.

New information during the study

In the event that any changes could affect your decision to continue participating in this study, you will be promptly informed.

Ethics review

This project was reviewed and cleared by the Carleton University Research Ethics Board A. If you have any ethical concerns with the study, please contact Carleton University Research Ethics Board by email at ethics@carleton.ca).

Statement of consent

You will be asked to provide oral consent to the following:

I voluntarily agree to participate in this study. ___Yes ___No

I agree to be video recorded ___Yes ___No

I agree to be audio recorded ___Yes ___No

To participate

Please send an email to DunjaPalic@cmail.carleton.ca to book an appointment.