Article
Acculturation strategies among professional Chinese immigrants in the Australian workplace*
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 49(1) 71–87 ! The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1038411110391709 apj.sagepub.com
Ying Lu Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Ramanie Samaratunge Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Charmine EJ Ha¨rtel University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Abstract A survey study of 214 professional immigrants born in mainland China was undertaken to examine their adaptation into the Australian workplace. It investigates the predictors of acculturation strategy selection including language proficiency, education experience in the host country, work-related experience outside the home country, and social support at work. Cluster analysis showed that professional Chinese immigrants have a predominant preference to maintain their home culture while logistic regression revealed that a model combining higher levels of English proficiency and social support at work predicted higher levels of acculturation. Findings also revealed that social support at work is the better indicator of acculturation among this immigrant group. The article concludes with practical implications for organizations and managers and research directions for future work. Keywords acculturation, Australia, Chinese immigrants, diversity, professionals The last two decades have witnessed an increase in global workforce diversity (Bakker, van der Zee, and Van Qudenhoven 2006; Ouaked 2002) which is reflected in the prevalence of diversity in workplaces (Luijters, van der Zee, and Otten 2006). This is *We sincerely thank Prof. Uichol Kim for helping to contextualize the Acculturation Attitudes Scale. Thanks to Dr Brian Cooper for his valuable assistance in the development of the methodology. Special gratitude is extended to Dr Mingqiong Zhang for his helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Corresponding author: Ms Ying Lu, Department of Management, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Vic. 3800 Australia Email:
[email protected]
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particularly the case in Australia due to the changing immigration trends (Ha¨rtel 2004). According to the 2006 Australian census, 23.9 per cent of the 21 million respondents were born overseas (DIAC 2008). Within this foreign-born population, the third largest subgroup is China-born immigrants (ABS 2006). Furthermore, China is ranked as one of the largest sources of skilled migration to Australia (ABS 2007; DIAC 2008, 2009), with 22.6 per cent categorized in the occupation of professionals (ABS 2006). Our focus in this article is on China-born professionals, which the ABS (1997) defines as individuals holding a minimum of a bachelor degree qualification and able to perform analytical, conceptual, creative, and intellectually challenging tasks via the application of theoretical knowledge and skills in a particular field. A diverse workforce can bring competitive advantages through the different resources, experiences, networks, ideas, attitudes, and skills the individuals bring to the organization, which facilitate creativity, innovation, problem-solving and decision-making (Cox 2001; Cox and Blake 1991; Jackson and Joshi 2004; Van De Ven et al. 2008). First-generation immigrants, including Chinese immigrants, however, encounter many adaptation difficulties arising from cultural and social differences after entering the Australian workplace (Ho 2006; Birrell and Healy 2008), a situation which poses a threat to realizing the competitive advantages associated with diversity. Meanwhile, the lack of knowledge about these difficulties affecting Chinese immigrants has already generated conflicts and inappropriate administration practices in Australian organizations (Sinclair 2006). An extensive review of the literature reveals a critical link between immigrants’ acculturation and their adaptation to the host country (Berry 1997). Understanding immigrant employees’ acculturation experience is essential to work out efficient programs to assist them in adapting to the host workplace (Leong 2001). The need for understanding is great because immigrant employees not only engender the abovementioned advantages of diversity, but also bring the connections and the expertise of their home countries (Wang and Sangalang 2005), which benefit Australian companies in global competition. The case for managing Chinese immigrant employees is particularly strong, as the connection with China, Australia’s top trading partner (ABS 2010), is of great value to local organizations. The dearth of research into the acculturation issues associated with immigration, however, has serious implications for the well-being of immigrant employees and overall productivity of organizations in Australia (Birrell and Healy 2008; De Cieri and Olekalns 2001; Mahmud, Alam, and Ha¨rtel 2008; Sinclair 2006). The study reported here investigates the acculturation strategies of professional Chinese immigrants (PCIs) in the Australian workplace. This group includes professors, managers, accountants, auditors, medical doctors, engineers, scientists and computer programmers. This study makes a significant contribution to the literature in two ways. First, it examines PCIs’ preferred acculturation strategies to get a better understanding of this immigrant group. Second, it explores the predictors of acculturation strategies, which can provide information for organizations developing effective acculturation programs to assist immigrant employees with adaptation to a new workplace. Overall, the findings reported in this article offer guidance to both academics and practitioners in better utilizing the human capital of PCIs. The article is organized as follows. First, we develop our theoretical framework and relevant hypotheses. In this section
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we outline the theoretical background and research design including sampling and measurement. Then we present the research findings. The article concludes with the discussion of research significance, implications and limitations followed by an agenda for future research.
Acculturation strategy and its predictors Acculturation strategy Inevitably, when people relocate from one country to another, they face the acculturation process associated with migration. Immigrants must make choices between their traditional cultures and the mainstream host cultures and answer two questions (Berry 1997; Berry et al. 1989): first, to what extent should one’s heritage culture and identity and good relationship with the native culture be maintained? Second, to what extent should relationships with the host group be developed? When the two questions are considered simultaneously, an integrated model of four acculturation strategies emerges, as shown in Figure 1. In Figure 1, the two questions are addressed using attitudinal dimensions represented by bipolar arrows. Generally positive or negative responses (‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses) to these questions intersect to define the four acculturation strategies of integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. From the standpoint of non-dominant groups, when individuals do not want to maintain their original culture and aim at complete absorption into the host culture, they are employing the assimilation strategy. In contrast, if individuals strongly retain their cultural identity and consider the relationships with the host culture as not important, they are using the separation strategy. When people are interested in maintaining their original culture during daily interactions with the host cultural groups, the integration strategy is the option. Finally, when individuals lose their original culture without establishing ties with the new culture, marginalization is used. YES (+)
Assimilation
Integration
Should I maintain relationships with the host group? Marginalization
Separation
NO (–) Should I retain my original culture and identity?
Figure 1. Acculturation strategies Source: adapted from Berry 1997
YES (+)
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Among the four strategies, integration is the most successful and marginalization is the least while assimilation and separation are intermediate (Berry 1997). The less adaptive strategies can have serious costs for the well-being of both employees and organizations when they encounter problems in the process of acculturation (Berry 1997; Raville 2006; Shim and Schwartz 2007). For example, acculturation has been shown to impact immigrants’ degree of physiological stress (Padilla and Perez 2003), family conflicts (Lee et al. 2000), life satisfaction (Wong-Rieger and Quintana 1987), and mental health (Oh, Koeske, and Sales 2002; Oppedal, Røysamb, and Sam 2004), which can heavily influence employee productivity and quality of work-life (Stone 2008). If these problems are not addressed in a timely and appropriate manner they could lead to conflict, career stress, low productivity, and low job satisfaction, which can generate significant economic and social problems in the long run (Leong and Chou 1994; Raville 2006). As the most popular model of acculturation in both literature and empirical studies (Van De Vijver and Phalet 2004), Berry’s (1997) model is the theoretical basis for research in the acculturation field (e.g. Bourhis et al. 2009; Komisarof 2009; Navas et al. 2007; Pham and Harris 2001). In line with previous studies, this paper adopts Berry’s (1997) model as the theoretical foundation to study PCIs’ acculturation experiences in Australia. In this hierarchical model of acculturation levels, assimilation and integration are regarded as higher levels of acculturation while separation and marginalization as lower acculturation levels. More specifically, there is an upward sequence from marginalization and separation to assimilation and integration (e.g. Choi and Thomas 2009; Ea et al. 2008; Leong 2001; Leong and Chou 1994;). This article employs this description of acculturation levels, with an indication that assimilation and integration are higher levels of acculturation than separation and marginalization. Berry’s model of acculturation strategy was originally developed and measured in a variety of acculturated groups in Canada, where the population is comprised of ethnically heterogeneous groups (e.g. Berry et al. 1989; Chataway and Berry 1989; Zheng and Berry 1991). Since then it has been used in other countries especially in the US context with different ethnic groups, providing sufficient supporting evidence for the theoretical premises (e.g. Choi and Thomas 2009; Jasinskaja-Lahti and Liebkind 2000; Pham and Harris 2001; Shim and Schwartz 2007). The model assumes that the society advocates multiculturalism and immigrants have freedom to choose the way they engage in intercultural relations (Berry 2001, 1991; Berry et al. 1989). It is therefore appropriate to apply the model to immigrants in the Australian context because Australia is a country advocating multiculturalism (DIMIA 2003). Although it is still an unanswered question which strategy the China-born subgroup in Australia tends to prefer, according to many empirical studies targeting the immigrant population in general, immigrants usually have a strong preference for the integration strategy in a multicultural society (see Berry et al. 1989; van Oudenhoven, Prins, and Buunk 1998). This leads to our first hypothesis: Hypothesis 1: Integration will be the most preferred strategy among PCIs in the Australian workplace.
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Predictors of acculturation strategies There are various predictors of acculturation strategy, for example, mainstream language proficiency, education level in the host country, past working experience outside the home country, gender, age at migration, years of residency in the host country, as well as social support at work (Berry 1997; Luijters, van der Zee, and Otten 2006; Padilla and Perez 2003; Zakaria 2000). Currently, however, little is known about the interrelationships among these predictors and the acculturation strategies for PCIs. Therefore, these relationships are examined in this study.
Language proficiency Language is a tool for people to communicate and socialize to build up their social networks. Fluency of the host country’s language is a significant predictor of an individual’s acculturation, because it can facilitate immigrant’s contact with natives and broaden their social networks and resources (e.g. Choi and Thomas 2009; Padilla and Perez 2003; Remennick 2003). It is also reported that language proficiency is a critical factor for immigrants’ success in the labour market, particularly for those from non-English speaking countries (Mahmud, Alam, and Ha¨rtel 2008). As Peirce (1993, cited in Zhang 2008, 27) points out: It is through language that a person negotiates a sense of self within and across different sites at different points in time, and it is through language that a person gains access to – or is denied access to – powerful social networks that give learners the opportunity to speak. Thus language is not conceived of as a neutral medium of communication, but is understood with reference to its social meaning.
It is reported that immigrants who are or feel inadequate in their use of the mainstream language often yearn for their ethnic group, in which they can continue to use their mother language and function appropriately in terms of cultural and linguistic meanings (Winning 1991, cited in Zhang 2008). However, immigrants will weigh the pros and cons when deciding whether to follow their traditional patterns of social interaction, as there is also the desire to respond to the social mobility opportunities in the external environment which are more accessible to mainstream language speaking individuals (Govindasamy and Nambiar 2003). As one of the most prominent factors in the formation of one’s cultural identity, language is viewed as a reflection of a given culture’s values and beliefs (Hofstede 2001; Zhang 2008). As such, it is not surprising that language usage and proficiency are associated with individuals’ social networks as well as acculturation. Various studies have been undertaken to test the relationship between language proficiency and acculturation strategy. The majority of these studies are focused on immigrants from non-English speaking countries in the US and point out that fluency in speaking English can facilitate immigrants’ adaptation into the American culture (e.g. Choi and Thomas 2009; Oh, Koeske, and Sales 2002; Yeh 2003). Berry and his colleagues conducted a similar line of research in Canada and found that low fluency in English was a predictor of separation (Berry et al. 1989). In the current study, mainstream language proficiency (English proficiency) is included as an independent
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variable with the expectation that: Hypothesis 2: High levels of mainstream language (English) proficiency will predict higher levels of acculturation (i.e. assimilation and integration).
Education and work experience Education is consistently associated with positive adaptation, that is, higher education is predictive of lower acculturation stress (Beiser et al. 1988, cited in Berry 1997). Pham and Harris (2001) tested the effect of education in predicting acculturation strategies among Vietnamese-Americans and found that high levels of education predicted the use of the integration strategy. People with lower levels of education usually utilize the strategies of marginalization and separation. In particular, education in the host country can help immigrants to be familiar with the language, history, values and norms of the new culture (Berry 1997), which leads to the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 3: High levels of education experience in the host country (Australia) will predict higher levels of acculturation (i.e. assimilation and integration).
Past overseas working experience is also proposed as an important factor which facilitates the individual’s work adjustment to the host country (Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou 1991; Selvarajah 2003). Thus, it is proposed that: Hypothesis 4: Work-related experience outside the home country (China) will predict higher levels of acculturation (i.e. assimilation and integration).
Social support at work Social support is the physical and emotional comfort given to us by numerous sources, including support in the workplace (for example, co-workers, supervisors, and managers) and support from sources other than the workplace (for example, family, friends, and ethnic communities) (Noh and Kaspar 2003; Wang and Sangalang 2005). Several studies have examined the influence of social support on the acculturation and adjustment of immigrants. According to Choi and Thomas (2009), social support can have a significant influence on the acculturation attitudes of immigrants. Wang and Sangalang (2005) point out that those immigrant employees who get more support from co-workers and management in the workplace adjust better to their working environment and are more likely to feel satisfied with their jobs. The reason for this relationship is that social support from these sources enables immigrant employees to better understand their jobs and get more information about the organizations and therefore, to acculturate into the workplace much more easily and further improve their job performance. This study mainly focuses on the social support in the workplace and hypothesizes that: Hypothesis 5: High levels of social support at work will predict higher levels of acculturation (i.e. assimilation and integration).
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Methodology Participants A thousand and fifty PCIs residing in Australia were asked to complete surveys and 214 did so, for a response rate of 20.4 per cent. All participants were first-generation immigrants who were born and raised in mainland China. Most of the participants were from Melbourne and Sydney because these are the two largest Australian cities and where the Chinese immigrant population is thriving (ABS 2006; DIAC 2009). Sixty-four per cent of questionnaires were completed in English, while 36 per cent were completed in Chinese. The mean age of the sample was 42.91 years old with 72.8 per cent in the 31 to 50 years of age group. Most of the participants migrated to Australia before 35 years old. Table 1 provides the detailed demographic information of the sample.
Procedures and data collection Data for the present study were collected from October 2009 to February 2010. A non-probability sampling method was used to collect quantitative data. Specifically, individual participants were selected by the respondent-driven sampling (RDS) method among those PCIs who resided in Australia. RDS is a de facto variation of snowball sampling, selecting participants from the friendship network of existing participates (Salganik and Heckathorn 2004). The sampling process ‘begins when the researchers select a small number of seeds who are the first people to participate in the study’, and then these seeds recruit others to participate in the study (Salganik and Heckathorn 2004, 196). Existing sample members recruiting future sample members will not stop until the desired sample size is reached (Heckathorn 1997; Salganik and Heckathorn 2004). The seed participants in this study were mainly recruited via friendship groups of the researchers and accessible Chinese associations in Australia. Individual PCIs were initially approached by e-mail and given a brief explanation of the research. Once they expressed an interest in participating, research survey packets were distributed to individuals and collected back in person or via e-mail and mail. Survey packets included an explanation of the study, a demographic questionnaire and corresponding scales of the variables. These participants were allowed to recruit others to participate in the survey and send the survey packets to their recruits via e-mail or post, or collected by the researchers in person. The questionnaires were translated into Chinese in order to allow the participants to choose whether to complete the survey in English or in Chinese. All the questionnaires were returned anonymously.
Measures Demographic information: This section of the survey collected the participants’ demographic information such as age, sex, marital status, education and work experience in China and Australia, length of residence in Australia, and membership of certain Chinese communities and associations.
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Table 1. The structure of sample PCIs Sample PCIs
Categories
%
Gender
Male Female 21–30 31–40 41–50 51–60 20–29 30–39 40–49 1–5 6–10 11–15 16–20 21> Single Married Bachelor Master Professional PhD Yes No Currently is Once to be Never to be
65.0 35.0 8.9 26.8 46.0 18.3 39.9 53.1 7.0 28.5 17.8 20.1 23.8 9.8 14.6 85.4 10.3 28.5 2.8 58.4 30.4 69.6 50.0 15.0 35.0
Age
Age at migration
Years of residence in Australia
Marital status Education
Whether has work-related experience outside China before immigrating to Australia Membership of certain Chinese communities or associations
N ¼ 214.
Language proficiency scale: This scale was adapted from the Linguistic Proficiency Subscale of the Behavioural Acculturation Scale developed by Marı´ n and Gamba (1996). It consisted of 7 items with a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (‘strongly disagree’) to 5 (‘strongly agree’) to test the PCIs’ English proficiency, including proficiency in understanding, reading, and writing English, and the extent to which their English can be understood by others. The alpha coefficient of this scale was 0.89. Social support at work scale: This scale was adapted from the scale developed by Wang (2001) for measuring the ‘perceived social support from different groups of individuals at work’ (Wang and Sangalang 2005, 247). It consisted of 12 items with a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (‘never’) to 7 (‘always’) to test social support from immigrant co-workers, native-born co-workers, and supervisors/management. The alpha coefficients for social support from co-workers, native-born co-workers,
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and supervisor/management were 0.93, 0.92 and 0.94 respectively, which is comparable to the alpha coefficient of 0.88, 0.93, and 0.93 respectively reported by Wang and Sangalang (2005). Acculturation strategy scale: This scale was adapted from the Acculturation Attitudes Scale developed by Kim (1988). The original scale consisted of two set of subscales (16 items per subscale), one assessing strategies towards the American culture and society, and the other assessing strategies towards Korean culture. For the current study, the original scale was culturally contextualized to suit PCIs in the Australian context. A 5-point response scale ranging from 1 (‘strongly disagree’) to 5 (‘strongly agree’) was used. The alpha coefficient for the subscale of strategies towards Australian culture was 0.78 and the subscale of strategies towards Chinese culture was 0.83. The indicator of acculturation strategies was obtained by combining the scores in the two set of questions.
Results Acculturation strategies of PCIs in Australia Mean scores were calculated to ascertain the respondents’ acculturation strategies toward Australian culture and Chinese culture. The overall rating for the items assessing strategies toward Chinese culture ranged from 2.00 to 4.56, with a mean of 3.35 (SD ¼ 0.45). The overall rating for the items assessing strategy toward Australian culture ranged from 2.44 to 4.75, with a mean of 3.62 (SD ¼ 0.38). A cluster analysis was conducted linking strategies toward Chinese culture with strategies toward Australian culture. The cluster analysis is based on the respondents’ scores on 16 items of strategies toward Chinese culture and 16 items of strategies toward Australian culture. In line with previous studies conducted by Kim, Helgesen, and Ahn (2002), the K-Means method was employed as the algorithm. The produced clusters were divided in advance into four by theoretical assumption. The assimilation, integration, separation, marginalization strategies were coded as 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The cluster analysis for individuals’ acculturation strategies is presented in Table 2. The results of the cluster analysis show a clear cluster pattern. A large
Table 2. Cluster analysis of acculturation strategies Clusters Acculturation strategy
Assimilation Integration Separation Marginalization Total (N ¼ 47) (N ¼ 64) (N ¼ 74) (N ¼ 29) (N ¼ 214) F
Strategy toward 3.90 (.24) Australian culture Strategy toward 3.03 (.29) Chinese culture *p < 0.05.
3.88 (.25)
3.37 (.21)
3.20 (.30)
3.62
99.79*
3.77 (.24)
3.45 (.22)
2.70 (.30)
3.35
150.52*
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number of people belonged to the separation category, followed by integration, assimilation, and marginalization. Hypothesis 1, stating that PCIs would prefer integration strategy the most, was not supported by this finding.
Predictors of acculturation strategies of PCIs in Australia In order to test the hypotheses relating to predictors, acculturation strategies were coded as 0 ¼ lower levels of acculturation (separation and marginalization), and 1 ¼ higher levels of acculturation (assimilation and integration). A direct logistic regression analysis was performed aiming to predict levels of acculturation (higher versus lower) of the 212 cases on the variable acculturation strategy after deleting 2 cases due to missing values. Four independent variables were used as predictors: education experience in Australia, work-related experience outside China, English proficiency, and social support at work. All variables were standardized (z score) in order to identify the strength of the predictors. A test of the full model with all four predictors against a constant-only-model was statistically significant (2 (4, 212) ¼ 20.22, p < 0.05), indicating that the predictors, as a set, reliably distinguished between individuals with higher levels of acculturation and individuals with lower levels of acculturation. The model as a whole explained between 9.1% (Cox and Snell R square) and 12.1% (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in acculturation strategies. Prediction success was moderate with 57.3% of individuals belonging to the lower acculturation group being correctly classified and 67.9% of individuals belonging to the higher acculturation group being correctly classified, for an overall success rate of 62.7%. Table 3 shows the logistic regression coefficient, Wald test, and odds ratio for each of the predictors when predicting the level of acculturation strategy. Employing a 0.05 criterion of statistical significance, only two of the predictors made a significant contribution to prediction: English proficiency (z ¼ 7.75, p < 0.05) and social support at work (z ¼ 10.56, p < 0.05). Education experience in Australia (z ¼ 0.03, p > 0.05) and work-related experience outside China (z ¼ 0.13, p > 0.05) were not found to provide any significant contribution to prediction. The stronger predictor of acculturation levels was social support at work, recording an odds ratio of 1.63. This indicated
Table 3. Logistic regression predicting higher level of acculturation strategies 95.0% CI for odds ratio
Education in Australia Work-related experience outside China English proficiency Social support at work Constant
Odds ratio
Lower
B
S.E.
Wald
df
p
Upper
.03 .06
.16 .16
.03 .13
1 1
.87 .72
.98 .95
.71 .69
1.34 1.29
.43 .49 .06
.15 .15 .14
7.75 10.56 .16
1 1 1
.01 .00 .69
1.53 1.63 1.06
1.13 1.22
2.07 2.19
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that when holding all other variables constant, with a 1 point increase on the 7-point social support at work scale, respondents were 1.63 times more likely to hold a higher level of acculturation. The odds ratio for English proficiency was 1.53. This indicated that when holding all other variables constant, with a 1 point increase on the 5-point English proficiency scale, respondents were 1.53 times more likely to hold a higher level of acculturation. It can be seen from these findings that hypothesis 3, stating that education experience in the host country (Australia) would predict PCIs’ use of higher levels of acculturation, was not supported; and hypothesis 4, stating that work-related experience outside the home country (China) would predict PCIs’ use of higher levels of acculturation, was not supported. In contrast, hypothesis 2, proposing that higher levels of mainstream language (English) proficiency would predict PCIs’ use of higher levels of acculturation, and hypothesis 5, proposing that more social support at work would predict PCIs’ use of higher levels of acculturation, were supported as results revealed that language proficiency and social support at work can predict acculturation.
Discussion Starting from Berry’s (1997) acculturation model, this study explored PCIs’ preferences among the four acculturation strategies of assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization. It also examined the impact of language proficiency, education in the host country, working experience outside the home country, and social support at work in predicting the acculturation level of PCIs in Australia. Results demonstrated that PCIs have a predominant preference to retain their heritage Chinese culture rather than to adopt the Australian one. The results also reveal that mainstream language proficiency and social support at work can significantly predict the level of acculturation exhibited. The present study provides acculturation theory with new insights as it reveals that PCIs in Australia most often adopt a separation strategy, followed by an integration strategy. Such a finding is contrary to hypothesis 1, which was based on previous studies conducted in countries other than Australia which demonstrated that immigrants have a clear preference for the integration strategy (e.g. Bakker, van der Zee, and Van Qudenhoven 2006; Berry et al. 1989; Choi and Thomas 2009; Zheng and Berry 1991). One possible explanation is that Chinese immigrants feel proud of their Chinese culture which is believed to be a representative example of world culture and has a great impact on the world (Wu 2000). Therefore they may want to maintain their traditional culture, which a multicultural society such as Australia allows them to do so. Another possible reason is that PCIs take an active part in different Chinese communities in Australia, which advocate retaining and promoting Chinese culture. Members of these communities have opportunities to function appropriately according to their heritage culture and use their ethnic language. As a result, the PCIs collectively choose to maintain their heritage culture and the Chinese culture can be sustained in Australia. The support for hypotheses 2 and 5 and the lack of support for hypotheses 3 and 4 reveal that acculturation strategies are correlated with and predicted by mainstream
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language proficiency and social support at work. As would be expected, participants with better proficiency in English had a higher level of acculturation. This finding is consistent with many previous studies (e.g. Choi and Thomas 2009; Yeh 2003) and supports hypothesis 2. A strong command of English increases the ability of immigrants to acquire cultural knowledge of the host country and workplace, which facilitates their cross-cultural interactions with members of the host society and further helps them to avoid potential intercultural misunderstandings and conflicts (Kuo and Roysircar 2004). This finding also underscores the importance of the ability to master English for the development of a positive acculturation strategy in English-speaking countries. On this evidence, policy-makers and program developers in organizations would do well to focus their attention on designing effective and accessible training programs for improving PCIs’ English proficiency to promote positive attitudes among PCIs toward the acculturation process. Findings also reveal that respondents who received higher levels of social support from their co-workers, supervisors, and managers were more likely to develop higher levels of acculturation strategies, as hypotheses 5 predicted. It is possible that people who receive more social support at work may have a sense of being accepted by their colleagues and perceive more inclusiveness in the workplace (cf. Ayoko, Ha¨rtel, and Callan 2002; Ha¨rtel and Panipucci 2005). Social help from those three sources can also provide immigrant employees with more information regarding the local managerial system, which assists them in understanding the system and solving problems caused by system or cultural differences. Availability of social support at work serves as a tool to get involved in the host culture, which, according to this study, is a facilitating factor to positive acculturation strategies.
Limitations of the study Although the findings of this study add to the existing body of literature, there are several limitations that need to be considered. One of the main limitations of the study is the generalizability of the results as it is not a comparative study between different ethnic groups or PCIs across national contexts. It focuses only on the Chinese group in the Australian context. The research outcomes cannot explain the case of immigrants from other countries, nor can it disclose the circumstance of Chinese immigrants in countries other than Australia. Second, the research focuses on PCIs excluding China-born employees in Australia from occupations other than professionals. Other occupational groups may have different acculturation experiences in the workplace, and this should be explored in future studies. Third, because this study was conducted among PCIs, it did not capture the acculturation experiences of other Asian population groups such as Korean, Japanese, Indian, and Filipino immigrants, let alone immigrants from other continents like Europe. Sampling bias is another potential limitation to this study. The present study adopted the RDS sampling method, which can produce asymptotically unbiased estimates compared with other chain-referral methods like the snowball sampling method (Heckathorn 1997). However, many of the seed participants worked in universities and research institutions, and half of the participants were members of certain Chinese communities and associations, which likely reduces the representativeness
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of the sample to the target population. Although recruitment efforts were made to target specific areas that would draw PCIs that were not connected to Chinese communities and associations, the sample nonetheless may be biased toward those individuals with more social connections and those who have adapted well to the Australian culture. Future studies should consider adopting a mix of sampling methods to improve representativeness.
Conclusion and future directions To conclude, the present study finds out that more PCIs adopt the separation strategy, which is distinct from findings of previous studies that investigated the acculturation experiences of other ethnic groups in Canada and the US. Mainstream language proficiency and social support at work seem to promote the development of a positive acculturation strategy towards the acculturation process. In addition, the latter is the stronger predictive factor in determining higher levels of acculturation which is correlated with better career development and success. These findings are relevant to human resource management. Since a higher level of acculturation is related to more favourable job attitudes and successful career development (Leong 2001; Leong and Chou 1994), organizations striving to achieve competitive advantage through increased employee commitment, motivation and productivity, reduced absenteeism, operating costs and enhanced public image must make acculturation-related training programs an integral part of their HRM system. These programs should consist of not only language competence training aimed at immigrant employees, but also programs that help native-born employees and managers increase cultural sensitivity and awareness in working with and assisting immigrant employees. The latter kind of programs might be more critical since social support at work is a stronger predictor of acculturation strategy. Such acculturation-related programs are particularly important when managing PCIs because a majority of them adopt a separation strategy, which is associated with more stress and less job satisfaction (Leong and Chou 1994). A possible direction for future studies is to examine the role that acculturation strategies play in the workplace. They could, for example, explore the mediating and moderating effect on the relationship between individual characteristics and job attitudes such as job satisfaction, work engagement, and organizational commitment. The impact of different acculturation strategies on job satisfaction is also unknown. Future studies can also evaluate how organizational level factors, such as organizational policy, diversity climate, and the inclusion/exclusion tendency of majority group members in the workplace, shape immigrant employees’ attitudes toward acculturation. References Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 1997. Australian Standard Classification of Occupations. 2nd edn. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/
[email protected]/mf/1220.0 (accessed 31 July 1997). Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 2006. 2006 Census tables. http://www.abs.gov.au/web sitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/census+data?opendocument#from-banner¼LN (accessed 27 June 2007).
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Ying Lu is a PhD student in the Department of Management at Monash University, Australia. Her research areas include workforce diversity management and crosscultural management in Australia. Ramanie Samaratunge (PhD) is a senior lecturer in the Department of Management at Monash University. Her scholarly interests are in public management, international human resource management and management of change. Her recent publications examine key issues in developing countries such as public values, responsible entrepreneurship, new public management reforms, social protection, and structural adjustment. Charmine Ha¨rtel (PhD) is professor of human resource management and organizational development in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland, Australia and a fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management. Dr Ha¨rtel has 28 years of experience in the public and private sector and is recognized internationally as a leading expert in the areas of organizational and employee development. Her research and consulting identifies new practices and development initiatives that facilitate organizational performance and promote social and organizational justice, employee and community well-being, positive cross-cultural relations and social inclusion.
