Combo Uno, please !

Adams (as cited in Cui, 2008, p.78) described some historical barriers that immigrants have faced in terms of accessing to professional fields.
Access to professions was historically also restricted by gender, race, ethnicity, and religion. The ideal professional practitioner in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was an Anglo-Saxon, White, middle or upper class, Protestant male, and those who did not fit into this category often faced many explicit and explicit barriers. From the very beginning, access was also restricted by country of birth and region of training.
Clearly, some immigrants who come to Canada do not fit into the category described above. Consequently, they are facing discriminatory issues in organizations such as the glass ceiling which has been defined by Werner and DeSimone (2009) “…as a subtle attitudes and prejudices that block women and minorities from upward mobility, particularly into management jobs” (p.508). Particularly, for immigrants these prejudices are justified by the difference between Canadian professionals and foreign professionals. In addition, Cui (2008) wrote “Usually, such difference from domestic norm is viewed as deficient, incompatible and inferior and not up to Canadian standard” (p. 77).
In addition to this prejudicial attitude, some employers do not have enough experience, knowledge and skills to deal with immigrant workers. Werner and DeSimone (2009) wrote “Most organizations are culturally diverse because their employees are from different cultural subgroups (whether gender, race, ethnic origin, etc). But, even if an organization is culturally diverse, it may not be aware of or acknowledge this diversity” (p.510). In order to promote cultural diversity awareness in organizations, HRD practitioners should consider and promote the implementation of management strategies oriented to develop an inclusive environment for all employees.
Developing a more diverse organization, requires a long – term commitment to change, which includes to increase managers’ skills and knowledge in managing diversity (Werner & DeSimone, 2009). However, implementing organizational strategies to promote a more respectful work environment for immigrant workers do not solve by itself the Prior Learning Recognition and Foreign Credential Recognition issues in Canada. It is also necessary to understand and uncover what is actually behind assessing international credentials in Canada.