Revisiting the Notion of a 'Recast' Vertical Mosaic in Canada: Does a Post Secondary Education Make a Difference?

Abstract

ABSTRACT/RESUME Using data from the Public Use Microdata File for Individuals drawn from the 1996 Canadian Census, this paper examines the extent of racial inequality among Canadians holding a domestically obtained, post secondary educational qualification. The study employs multiple regression techniques to examine the relationship between race and income within two subpopulations: people holding a non-university post secondary credential and people who have completed a university degree. In both cases, multiple models were constructed to assess how the inclusion of different variables affected the relationship between race and earnings. Among people holding a non-university qualification, the analysis shows that Blacks, the Chinese, and people included in the 'other' visible minority category earn significantly less than white Canadians after controlling for the effects of a range of other predictors. Within the university-educated sample, all visible minority groups were found to earn significantly less than the white maj ority reference group after adjusting for differences in other variables. Both sets of analyses reveal that, among the visible minority groups. Black Canadians incur the most severe penalty in the labour market as a result of their racialized status. Overall, it is clear from this study that visible minorities do not enjoy the same returns from their investment in human capital as white Canadians. Sur la base des informations accessibles au public du Fichier de microdonnees des particuliers tirees du Recensement canadien de 1996, cette etude examine la variabilite del' inegalite raciale parmi les Canadien(ne)s ayant un diplome ou un certificat d'etudes postsecondaires delivre au pays. La recherche a conduite en utilisant de multiples tests de regression afin d'analyser la relation entre Ia race et le revenu au sein de deux segments de la population les individus detenteurs de titres de competence postsecondaires non-universitaires et ceux ayant mene a bonne fin des etudes universitaires. Pour les deux categories, plusieurs modeles ont etablis afin de determiner de quelle maniere les differentes variables incluses affectaient la relation entre la race et la renumeration. Apres avoir controle les effets de toute une serie d'autres variables predictives, l'analyse montre que parmi les personnes en possession d'un titre non-universitaire, les Noirs, les Chinois et les personnes appartenant a [much less tha n]1'aure[much greater than] categorie des minorites visibles gagnent beaucoup moms que les Canadien(ne)s de race blanche. Dans le groupe des individus detenteurs d'un diplome universitaire, il est demontre que toutes les personnes appartenant a une minorite visible gagnent beaucoup moms que les individus du groupe de reference de race blanche majoritaire apres ajustement pour compenser les differences dues aux autres variables. Les deux series d'analyse revelent que dans les groupes de miniorites visibles, les Canadien(ne)s de race noire sont les plus penalise(e)s sur le marche du travail a cause de leur statut racial. Dans l'ensemble, cette etude montre clairement que les minorites visibles ne jouissent pas du meme rapport de leur investissement en capital humain que les Canadien(ne)s de race blanche. INTRODUCTION Few academic works have galvanized a discipline the way The Vertical Mosaic did Canadian sociology. In the seminal 1965 publication, John Porter argued that a number of historical and social factors had forced Canada's ethnic mosaic into a vertical position with the two charter groups -- the British and the French -- at the top and more recently arrived ethnic groups hierarchically arranged below. This provocative thesis has served as a catalyst for a flood of subsequent Canadian research on ethnic and racial inequality, with this body of literature articulating varying levels of agreement with, and different twists on, the original Porter thesis. Supporters of the vertical mosaic argument contend that, in the thirty years since the publication of Porter's book, the charter groups, particularly the British, have maintained their favourable positions now shared to a large degree by those of Northern European and Jewish ancestry. …