A Novel Framework for Investigating Immigrant Experiences in Cybersecurity – Integrating Human Capital Theory with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

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Presented at HICSS 2025 by

Anil Dhakal

Rupa Banerjee

Atefeh Mashatan

The cybersecurity sector has faced chronic talent shortages in recent years. One potential solution for addressing this issue is to leverage the expertise of immigrants. The literature on immigrants’ integration has predominantly used a human capital lens, which overlooks the structural issues of integration. Whereas equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in organizational literature is more focused on gender and race. There is a need to bridge these approaches in order to create a holistic conceptual framework to guide research into the integration challenges that skilled immigrants face in host countries. This research first identifies the key aspects of immigrant employment outcomes by reviewing literature on immigrant integration and EDI. Using the cybersecurity sector in Canada as a case study, this paper presents a conceptual framework for investigating employment integration of skilled immigrants, which can also be applied to other skilled sectors.