Title Affiliations Abstract "An ethnographic study on everyday practices of ethnic discrimination in Flemish secondary schools." "Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies (CeMIS), EduBROn" "Ethnic discrimination in the educational sector has been a topic of research within a myriad of social disciplines. Yet surprisingly, a lot of research fails to systematically study and categorize the different levels and types of ethnic discrimination within specific school settings. This explorative study wants to gain insight in the different types of interpersonal and institutional ethnic discrimination, with an emphasis on the perceptions of the phenomenon by different school actors (i.e., pupils and school staff). Subsequently, the study also wants to explore the diverse coping mechanism used and related consequences experienced by the relevant school actors in relation to interpersonal and institutional ethnic discrimination. The research will be executed in six classes of three Flemish secondary schools with varied ethnic and socio-economic compositions, and all located in one city setting. Different forms of data collection will be carried out, including ethnographic observations, document analysis, a diary method for pupils, and interviews with pupils, teachers and leading staff. The research would provide valuable insights in the relationship between different levels and types of ethnic discrimination and the interconnectedness with specific coping mechanism used and consequences experienced by pupils and school staff. These findings could support school staff (in training) in raising awareness about and better respond to experiences of ethnic discrimination in a school context." "Subtle discrimination of ethnic minority and disabled employees at work: Reconnecting inter-individual experiences to macrostructures of inequality" "Patrizia ZANONI" Diversity "Research on workplace discrimination has increasingly turned its attention towards 'subtle' discrimination. Subtle discrimination in the workplace refers to unequal treatment that negatively affects its victim, yet that is engrained in practices that are generally seen as harmless and potentially enacted unconsciously by individuals without necessarily discriminatory intentions. By adopting a perspective informed by critical race theory and disability studies, this project aims to contribute to the literature on subtle discrimination by 1) investigating the manifestations of subtle discrimination confronting ethnic minority and disabled employees; 2) theorizing about the discursive practices through which these manifestations become (de-)legitimized and 3) explicating the connection between micro-practices and macro-relations of power in the workplace. To do so, the project develops 3 empirical papers which advance the literature on subtle discriminating by 1) exploring how the discourse of soft skills is used in the legitimization of subtle discrimination against ethnic minorities and the reproduction of unequal power relations; 2) studying through which manifestations of subtle discrimination disabled employees become disadvantaged in organizations and 3) exploring the discursive practices used to (de-)legitimize subtle discrimination and the connected structural inequalities. This project will be based on 150 in-depth interviews with employees, employers and stakeholders." "An ethnography of the importance of a particular school and broader social contexts in the development of ethnic stereotypes and experiences of racism and discrimination with secondary school students in Flanders." "Mieke Van Houtte" "Department of Sociology" "This study relies on ethnographic research in two Flemish secondary schools to explore ethnic minority students’ experiences with racism and discrimination, the ethnic stereotypes majority and minority groups develop of each other and the factors and processes explaining differences in experiences with racism ena discrimination and ethnic stereotyping." "Discrimination on the private rental market in Belgium. Strategies and rationales of private landlords and real estate agents to exclude ethnic minorities and low income households." "Hilde Heynen" "Urban Design, Urbanism, Landscape and Planning, History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture" "Discrimination is a persistent issue in various societal fields, including the housing market. This PhD project focuses on the discrimination of ethnic minorities and low income households on the private rental market in Belgium. Taking the perspective of landlords and real estate agents as a point of departure, the project studies how discrimination occurs throughout the entire rental procedure.More precisely, this PhD project wishes to reveal which selection and discrimination strategies landlords and real estate brokers develop in their daily practices. It also sheds light on the motivations, reasoning and justifications that go along these strategies. In addition, this PhD questions how governments can develop or strengthen their housing and antidiscrimination policies to improve access to housing for ethnic minorities and low income households." "EdisTools: Explaining and reducing discrimination of ethnic minority patients in healthcare" "Sara Willems" "Department of Public Health and Primary Care" "To gain insight into ethnic discrimination by general practitioners and the underlying processes leading to it, an experimental study using simulated patients is implemented. This study will use psychological tests (MC-SJT test), observations and interviews with both physicians and patients. Insights from this study contribute to the development of a training tool for GPs regarding ethnic discrimination." "EdisTools: How can we explain and reduce ethnic discrimination by teachers in secondary education in Flanders?" "Peter Stevens" "Department of Sociology" "This project aims to gain a better understanding of discriminatory behaviour of teachers in secondary education, so that (well-meant / unconscious) processes that lead up to this behaviour can be tackled. The behaviour of teachers is studied through psychological tests (MC-SJT), observations and interviews with teachers, students and headteachers. Based on this research, a trainingtool is developed to reduce discrimination." "Ethnic Residential Segration in Belgium: testing and adjusting the Ecological Perspective, Spatial Assimilation and the Discrimination Theory." "Bart Van de Putte" "Department of Sociology" "This research aims at extending the scientific knowledge about the causes of ethnic residential segregation (ERS). More specifically, three traditional (American) theories to explain ERS are tested in and adjusted to the Belgian context. These three theories are the Ecological Perspective, the Spatial Assimilation Thoery and the Discrimination theory." "On the same campus? Acculturation, discrimination and intergroup relations between Turkish and Belgian descent university students" "Ides Nicaise" "Professional Learning & Development, Corporate Training and Lifelong Learning" "Much research has been devoted to investigating the acculturation processes of the children of immigrants in Western Europe. One particular focus has been on the acculturation of children of Turkish immigrants, with a significant degree of scholarly attention paid to debates on integration and education. The present dissertation offers a contribution to this scholarly debate by analysing the acculturation experiences and perspectives of both Turkish and Belgian descent students in higher education in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium).  The review of the state of the art in acculturation research presented in the first part of the dissertation reveals that several blind spots remain. First, the field has overlooked the acculturation processes of ethnic majority individuals. This is puzzling since acculturation is defined as a mutual adaptation process. This narrow focus on ethnic minority experiences limits our understanding of acculturation across society by overlooking the way ethnic majority groups think and act about intergroup contact. Second, acculturation research has focused little on a very salient factor that likely hinders acculturation in educational settings—namely, minority student experiences ofdiscrimination, whether from peers in the classroom, or educators. Third, the research has tended to overlook the role of peer relations—namely, contact and friendship—in advancing or impeding successful acculturation. While clearly salient in the acculturation process, limited scholarly attention has been given to understanding what drives or hinders students’ interpersonal outreach and friendship formation in multi-ethnic educational settings. Finally, acculturation studies in Western Europe have paid scant attention to the institutional context—namely, the way that university policies affect how ethnic minority and majority students experience acculturation in the classroom (and on-campus more generally). This dissertation seeks to address these limitations in the field of acculturation research and shed much-needed light on how students in the specific domain of higher education experience and navigate intercultural exigencies.  The second part of the dissertation presents the empirical chapters. These chapters are based on data collected through in-depth qualitative interviews with Turkish and Belgian descent students in one higher education setting in Flanders. Focusing on the acculturation experiences and views of these students offers several insights. First, despite acculturation being defined as a mutual adaptation process, members of ethnic majority groups consider it responsibility for immigrants and their descendants, perpetuating an asymmetrical understanding of acculturation. Second, Turkish Belgian students experience various forms of discrimination and microaggressions by teachers and peers across the secondary school and higher education. These findings strongly suggest that the very institutions charged with facilitating student acculturation reproduce a range of discrimination experiences for ethnic minority students. Third, while acculturation research is often focused on the implications of acculturation strategies for intergroup outcomes, the findings from the empirical studies underline that ethnic minority students and those from the ethnic majority differ in the way they both think about intergroup contact and approach it in practice—namely, reaching out to peers and forming collegial relations and friendships. Homophily preferences, social exclusion, and the distinct meeting opportunities afforded by the relatively more ethnically diverse university setting are the key drivers of patterns of friendship development—both inside and outside the ethnic group—for Turkish Belgian students. For Belgian descent students, in contrast, the findings highlight barriers stemming from intergroup anxiety, negative assumptions, and stereotypes that underpin the lack of open and meaningful intergroup relations for this cohort. Finally, the findings indicate that a range of institutional policies and practices—including around acculturation itself—are central to the experience of acculturation on campus, often acting to hinder successful acculturation by excluding ethnic minority students. The results of this dissertation have significant implications for policy and practice. First, the findings highlight the need for a greater focus on equity. In particular, both institutional policies/practices and patterns of interpersonal contact are failing ethnic minority students, who experience discrimination on both counts. This limits the chances of successful intergroup outcomes on college and university campuses. Second, the findings show that encouraging successful intergroup contact and engagement requires that enduring experiences of discrimination and exclusion among ethnic minority students be addressed and intergroup knowledge, sensitivity and empathy within the ethnic majority promoted. Third, all university and college policies must reflect and advance full inclusion—and discourage discrimination, including indirect or latent forms—so that students’ distinct interests and cultural backgrounds are recognized, valued, and promoted. Suggested steps include promoting diversity in the student body and staff, providing students with spaces for cultural learning and expression, incorporating diverse experiences and views in the curriculum, and putting greater emphasis on fighting discrimination.   " "Ethnic and racial disparities in the field of autism spectrum disorder." "Imane Kostet" "Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change" "Research shows that ethnic minority groups are less likely to be diagnosed with autism and are generally diagnosed at a later age, often after several misdiagnoses. Moreover, compared to their ethnic majority peers, minority children who are diagnosed have a more severe clinical profile (e.g., higher rates of intellectual disabilities), experience worse trajectories and outcomes, and make less use of social services. While this inequality is evident, little is known about the causes. Drawing on a cultural sociological approach, this study unpacks the cultural factors that explain these autism disparities. I propose to examine how the social categories ""autistic people"" and ""racial/ethnic minorities"" are publicly imagined in relation to each other, how people on the spectrum themselves reproduce narratives on autism and its supposed intersection with ethnicity/race; hence, how autism functions as a cultural category in everyday life. Put differently, I will analyze how an ""autistic identity"" and ""autistic culture"" is shaped and how these constructions include or exclude minority groups' intersectional experiences." "The power dynamics of managing ethnic diversity: A study of the emergence and effects of diversity management practices" "Koen VAN LAER" Diversity "Faced with growing ethnic diversity in the workforce, organizations in Europe have increasingly implemented diversity management (DM) practices, yet continue to struggle with the question of how to manage ethnic diversity effectively. This problem can be linked to important gaps in the scientific literature on DM, which has mainly explored organizations in the United States, focusing on a limited number of formal DM practices and on the influence of anti-discrimination legislation on DM. Drawing on resource dependence theory and institutional theory, this research aims to advance the scientific knowledge on DM in three ways. First, it explores the bundles of DM practices organizations adopt to deal with DM challenges in Belgium, the synergies and interactions between DM practices which are adopted simultaneously, and the relation of these practices to the broader organizational and societal arrangements in which they are embedded. Second, it investigates the way the emergence of bundles of DM practices in organizations is shaped by power relations between management and the (ethnically diverse) workforce, and the resource dependencies and institutional pressures underlying them. Third, it examines the effects of bundles of DM practices on the career opportunities and inclusion of ethnic minority employees. Methodologically, this project adopts a multiple case study approach studying four organizations in Belgium."