Does Ethnic Concentration Influence Gender Role Views? A Study Across Ethnic Groups in England and Wales

Abstract

Gender role views have long been a matter of great interest to researchers. In part, this is connected to the negative part that traditional gender role views can play in the social and economic integration of women. In Western Europe, this topic has gained additional attention with the arrival of migrants from countries where gender inequality is greater and where individuals hold more traditional views on the social roles of men and women. Research shows that, though gender role views become less traditional over time and through the generations, differences with respect to the majoritarian white population remain. This study explores one of the possible mechanisms behind the persistence of traditional gender role views among migrants and their children in the UK (i.e. ethnic minority groups): neighbourhood ethnic concentration. Neighbourhoods are spaces of interaction, as well as of transmission of beliefs and ways of doing, and this can affect individuals more or less coercively. This study employs data from Wave 2 of Understanding Society, in combination with aggregated Census data. Using this data I explore the extent to which ethnic minority groups residing in areas with a higher concentration of members of the same group have a higher probability of holding more traditional gender role views. The article finds some evidence of this for Indians and Bangladeshis, but not for Pakistanis. Problems of self-selection and endogeneity are discussed.