Abstract
Ethnic discrimination is a serious problem in education. Previous quantitative research is predominately focused on the consequences of ethnic discrimination. Very little is known, however, about the characteristics of the school context that influence the initial experience of ethnic discrimination. This knowledge is essential to support schools in how to organize in a way that diminishes the likelihood of adolescents being discriminated against. This study examines the relationship between multicultural education and perceived ethnic discrimination, and the moderating role of the ethnic composition of the student population. Multicultural education is a broad concept. The focus lies on the three main actors: multicultural policy from the perspective of the principal, multicultural teaching from the perception of the teacher and students’ perception of multicultural teaching. The results of a multilevel analysis on a large-scale dataset (N = 2715 students, 38 schools) collected in secondary education in Belgium show that students of ethnic Belgian descent are more likely to report ethnic discrimination by peers if the school applies a more multicultural policy or if the school has a high concentration of students with an other-than-Belgian background. Students with an other-than-Belgian background are more likely to report ethnic discrimination by teachers if the school applies a more multicultural policy. If students perceive that their teachers pay attention to multicultural education, they are less likely to report ethnic discrimination by teachers, but more by peers. The ethnic composition is not directly related to perceived ethnic discrimination, nor does it play a moderating role.
Highlights
In order to develop a better understanding of how these two school characteristics influence the experience of ethnic discrimination, this study focuses on multicultural education, the ethnic composition of the student population and the interaction between both
The effect of multicultural teaching culture is borderline significant: in schools where teachers report paying more attention to multiculturalism, there is a higher likelihood of native Belgian students indicating that they feel discriminated against (OR = 1.923, p = 0.08)
In line with the imbalance of power thesis, we find that a student body that consists of more students with an immigrant background raises the probability that native Belgian students will report being discriminated against, this is only the case if more than half of the student population consists of students with an immigrant background
Summary
2.1 Ethnic discriminationEthnic discrimination can be defined as the differential treatment on the basis of ethnicity that disadvantages (a member of) an ethnic group (Quillian, 1995). A confrontation with ethnic discrimination by teachers and peers in school has a negative impact on a wide range of outcomes, such as adolescents’ sense of school belonging, self-esteem, depressive symptoms and grades (Benner et al, 2018; D’hondt et al, 2015; Wong et al, 2003). It affects both the emotional and academic well-being and the achievement of adolescents. The limited evidence shows that it is valuable and necessary to focus on different kinds of discrimination (e.g., peer versus teacher, personal versus group) as not every element of multicultural education is related in the same manner to different kinds of discrimination (Brown & Chu, 2012; Verkuyten & Thijs, 2002b)
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