Side-stepping stigma: accessing labour market opportunities in superdiverse cities

This article examines strategies employed by first- and second-generation migrant youth to navigate employment discrimination in three superdiverse cities: Melbourne (Australia), Birmingham (United Kingdom) and Toronto (Canada). Drawing on 119 interviews conducted between 2019 and early 2020, it explores how young people from migrant backgrounds perceive and respond to biased hiring practices. Three key themes are discussed: awareness of conscious and unconscious employer bias; strategic use of intragroup networks for initial labour market entry and skill development; and adaptive ‘covering’ behaviours including consciously altering communication styles, appearance, and cultural interests to gain acceptance in majority group-dominated workplaces. The study challenges deficit-based narratives that characterise minority community networks as providing ‘low’ social capital, instead demonstrating their potential for providing protective and developmental spaces. While participants exhibited agency in developing transcultural capital to navigate discriminatory environments, structural barriers persist despite individual adaptive strategies. The research contributes to understanding how marginalised youth negotiate exclusionary labour markets while highlighting the continued reality of systemic discrimination for career progression.