Female Ethnic Minority Research Articles

Traumatic experiences and mental health status for female ethnic minority adolescents and young adults on the run from their families due to negative social control

ABSTRACT This study addresses family-related violence against ethnic minority women, a global public health concern. The study aims to investigate various forms of negative social control experienced by this group at the Safehouse, assess their mental health status, examine the links between negative social control and mental health outcomes, and the impact of other potentially traumatic events in this context. Data was collected at a safehouse with 86 young Danish ethnic minority women, who have been sheltered due to experiences of negative social control in the family. Measures included the ICD-11 Trauma Questionnaire, Life Event Checklist, Beck Youth Inventories, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory as well as background information, where respondents were asked whether they had experienced negative social control, violence etc. and sociodemographic characteristics. Findings indicate severe mental health consequences, such as high prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (50.7%) and Complex-PTSD (C-PTSD) (29.9%), as well as severe symptoms of depression and anxiety in a large proportion of the respondents. Furthermore, correlations suggested that negative social control might play an important role in the development of e.g. PTSD. A hierarchical regression analysis including negative social control, explained 35.5% of the PTSD symptomatology. Most of the young people who seeks shelter at a Safehouse suffer from severe mental health problems due to violence and negative social control. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed. Future research should further focus on psychological sequelae in a prospective design. The development and validation of a measure for negative social control would contribute greatly to this area of research.

Gender differences in online abuse: the case of Dutch politicians

Online abuse and threats towards politicians have become a significant concern in the Netherlands, like in many other countries across the world. This paper analyses gender differences in abuse received by Dutch politicians on X (formerly Twitter), while taking into account the possible additional impact of ethnic minority status. All tweets directed at party leaders throughout the entire year of 2022 were collected. The effect of gender and ethnic minority status were estimated for six different linguistic measures of abuse, namely, toxicity, severe toxicity, identity attacks, profanity, insults, and threats. Contrary to expectations, tweets directed at male politicians scored higher on all forms of abuse. Significant interaction effects between gender and ethnic minority status were found for a number of abuse measures. Tweets directed at ethnic minority female politicians scored higher on severe toxicity, identity attacks, and profanity, compared to those directed at ethnic majority female politicians. Importantly, female ethnic minority politicians received the highest levels of threats compared to all groups. Given that online abuse and threats are reported to have a negative effect on political participation and retention, these results are particularly worrying.

Damned if she does: The subordinate male target hypothesis and discrimination of social dominant female minority members.

According to the subordinate male target hypothesis (SMTH), racism is based on an ethnicity-by-gender interaction, with a stronger link between experiencing racist discrimination and subordinate or dominant ethnic group status for men compared to women. This study reevaluates the SMTH, originally focused on objective discrimination, by applying it to self-reported active harm as a theoretically derived measure of racist discrimination and by exploring interindividual differences in female ethnic minority members' discriminatory experiences. We proposed that social dominance orientation (SDO) among female ethnic minorities would influence SMTH predictions. We tested this using multiple linear regression analyses among a sample of New Zealand Europeans as the majority in New Zealand and non-Europeans as the minority. As hypothesized, male non-Europeans reported disproportionally more active harm than female non-Europeans. Unexpectedly, not only female but also male, non-Europeans high in SDO reported more active harm than non-Europeans low in SDO. Therefore, applied to self-reported racist experiences, oppression of ethnic minorities is driven by interindividual differences rather than by gender. Together, these findings provide evidence that the SMTH cannot be unreservedly extended to reports of racist discrimination and that other processes may underlie these subjective experiences of discrimination that need to be considered in more detail.

‘You Have to Integrate to Belong Here!’: Acculturation and Exclusion among Turkish and Belgian Descent Students on a University Campus

ABSTRACT While substantial attention has been given to the integration processes of ethnic minority groups across Western Europe, few studies have focused on how students in higher education engage with and make sense of these processes. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with 25 female university students of Turkish and Belgian descent to shed light on students’ acculturation meanings. Our analyses show that both student groups reiterate the mainstream interpretation of integration as an adaptation process targeting immigrants and their descendants, although their views differ particularly as they relate to the dimension of cultural maintenance. Students’ accounts show how sweeping demands for integration are putting pressure on female ethnic minorities, restricting their freedom to negotiate their identities and making them vulnerable to exclusion and marginalisation. The acculturation attitudes of ethnic majority students, however, remain exclusionary as they fail to consider their own role in acculturation and enjoy few opportunities to build meaningful relations across ethnic groups on the university campus. We discuss the role of higher education context in reproducing such exclusionary mainstream integration discourses and delve further into the implications of gender in shaping students’ acculturation meanings and experiences.

The Effect of the Interplay of Gender and Ethnicity on Teachers Judgements: Does the School Subject Matter?

Two experimental studies investigated the disadvantages faced by female ethnic minority students when they are judged by pre- and inservice teachers. The results suggest that (preservice) teachers’ judgments were affected by the judgment dimension. Study 1 revealed that teachers apply gender stereotypes in their judgments on mathematical ability: Teachers perceived female students’ mathematical ability as lower than male students’ mathematical ability. Furthermore, in Study 1 (inservice teachers) and Study 2 (preservice teachers) students’ ethnicity influenced judgments on language proficiency. Beyond that, in Study 2 even judgments on mathematical ability were influenced by the information on students’ ethnicity. However, the interplay of the student characteristics is crucial for preservice teachers while it is not for inservice teachers.

Experienced racism, attachment and the risk of offending among Dutch Caribbean women

Dutch Caribbean-born women form one of the largest female ethnic minority groups in the Netherlands and are overrepresented in Dutch crime statistics. Experienced racism has been shown to weaken bonds to society and has been linked to (female) offending among African Americans. In the Netherlands and across the Caribbean research on experienced racism and offending is scarce. The current study examines the relationship between self-reported offending, weakened attachments and experienced racism among 328 Dutch Caribbean-born women. Results show that more experienced racism is related to both weakened attachments as to higher rates of self-reported offending across the life course.

Navigating belonging as a Muslim Moroccan female entrepreneur

ABSTRACT Entrepreneurship and families are inextricably intertwined. However, there is limited research on how female ethnic minority entrepreneurs achieve belonging and how they navigate the values and norms of their family, the ethnic community, and, for instance, clients. This article theorizes the processes of entrepreneurial belonging through an empirically informed ethnography of Muslim Moroccan female entrepreneurs (MMFEs) in the Netherlands. The analysis unveils the perceptions and contradictions regarding achieving belonging through navigating gender, ethnicity, and religion, but also relationships with family, community, and other stakeholders. It demonstrates how MMFEs must pierce through societal and professional stereotypes to establish themselves as entrepreneurs.

Ethnic Minority Women in Contemporary Chinese Comics: Design, Role and Identity

Ethnic diversity has become an important part of Chinese culture. Since the finishing of the ethnic minority classification project, artworks representing minority people have appeared in many different forms. Among the studies of ethnic minority representation, hardly has any discussed minority women in comics. This study will investigate the depiction of female ethnic minority characters in Chinese comics. I have chosen two comics that are representative for two different categories. The first work is Ling-Long, an original story that uses southern ethnic minority culture as context, which falls under the ‘ethnic minority themed original stories’ category. The second one is Gada Meilin, an adaptation of a famous Mongolian folktale, which falls under the ‘adaptation of existing stories’ category. The main female characters will be analysed from two aspects: the visual design and the role they play in the story. The former aspect will investigate their appearance, dress, facial expressions and body languages, while the latter will investigate their occupation, position and action in the story. After the analysis, I will discuss my thoughts from the perspective of an art practitioner and suggest some of my own possible ways of improving the character designs.

Understanding Pay Gaps

In this paper, we use micro-data from the UK Labour Force Survey to estimate unconditional and conditional pay gaps for gender and ethnicity groups since the mid-90s. Both types of gender pay gap have decreased over the sample, but remain in double digits. For ethnicity, the unconditional pay gap has been materially lower, compared to the gender pay gap, while the conditional pay gap is of similar magnitude to the gender one. These trends are apparent not only at the mean but also at the lower and upper ends of the distributions. Interaction effects between gender and ethnicity reveal that female ethnic minority workers experience a larger pay gap than both ethnic minority male, and white female workers. Half of the gender pay gap can be accounted for by compositional effects, such as the individual’s age, education, and the nature of their job, such as occupation and sector, while half remains unaccounted for. We find that the minimum wage leads to a decrease in the gender pay gap. Compositional effects for ethnicity suggest that ethnic minorities should be earning more than their white counterparts, with the unaccounted for factors driving the positive ethnicity pay gap. We find that compositional effects are heterogeneous across gender and ethnic minority groups. We assert that there is a strong case to extend compulsory pay gap reporting to ethnicity. There is also a case to extend compulsory reporting from firms with more than 250 employees to those with around 30 or more, to increase the coverage of the UK employed population.

Shifting standards for female ethnic minority students? Evidence from two experimental studies

ABSTRACT In 2 studies conducted in Germany, we investigated preservice teachers’ stereotypical judgement biases regarding Turkish female students and the application of shifting standards in stereotyping. Study 1 (N = 148) showed that Turkish students’ German language proficiency received lower judgements, but other – particularly social – dimensions received more favourable judgements compared with German students. In Study 2 (N = 290), we examined shifting standards in stereotyping in relation to Turkish female students, considering different reference groups. These 2 reference groups differed in academic achievement levels and prestige. Preservice teachers did not judge the Turkish student more positively when her reference group was high achieving, indicating shifting standards, but they judged the German student more positively when she was in a low-achieving group.

Representing their own? Ethnic minority women in the Dutch Parliament

Ethnic minority women tend to be better represented in parliaments than ethnic minority men. What does this mean for their substantive representation? This article makes use of intersectional analysis to study how the relationship between descriptive and substantive representation differs within and between gender and ethnic groups. Drawing on written parliamentary questions and the committee memberships of MPs in seven parliamentary sessions (1995–2012) in the Netherlands, a strong link is found between descriptive and substantive representation. Female ethnic minority MPs more often sit on committees and table questions that address ethnic minority women’s interests than male ethnic minority and female ethnic majority MPs. The link, however, is fragile as it is based on a small number of active MPs. This demonstrates the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding how representation works in increasingly diverse parliaments, which cannot be captured by focusing on gender or ethnicity alone.

A further look into ethnicity: The impact of stereotypical expectations on teachers’ judgments of female ethnic minority students

Teachers’ stereotypes may be one factor that contributes to the disadvantages ethnic minority students experience in school. According to dual-process theories, teachers have two strategies that they can apply to derive judgments of students. Teachers’ judgments are based on stereotypes when the information they have about students is consistent with teachers’ expectations, whereas teachers make judgments on a more individualized basis when their expectations are not supported by student information. We experimentally investigated this hypothesis with regard to teachers’ judgments of female ethnic minority and majority students. Teachers were presented with one of four different descriptions of a female student. The below average student was described as low performing, and the above average student represented an easy-to-teach student with high academic achievement. The two student descriptions were compiled for both an ethnic minority student and an ethnic majority student. Results showed that teachers judged the ethnic minority female student less favorably but only when comparing the below average students. The above average female ethnic minority student was judged more favorably than the above average ethnic majority student. Results are discussed with respect to the conditions that might result in advantages or in disadvantages for female ethnic minority students and their implications for future research.

The roles of teacher and student gender in German teachers’ attitudes toward ethnic minority students

Implicit and explicit attitudes play crucial roles in teachers’ judgments and behavior and might be part of the reason for the varying school performances of ethnic minority compared with ethnic majority students but also of female compared with male students. In this study, we investigated 80 female and 80 male German secondary school teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward female and male Turkish students, expecting more favorable attitudes toward same-gender students. However, implicit and explicit attitudes toward male and female students were independent of teachers’ gender. An IAT revealed more negative implicit attitudes toward female than male ethnic minority students, while teachers explicitly favored female ethnic minority students. Results are discussed in terms of culturally divergent social norms and gender.

Bad boys, good girls? Implicit and explicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students among elementary and secondary school teachers

Teachers’ attitudes toward ethnic minority students might differ by students’ gender and the type of school teachers are working in because of different motivations for teaching and different school practices. Hence, the aim of the current research was to investigate elementary (n=82) and secondary school (n=82) teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward male and female ethnic minority students. Teachers worked on either a male or a female Implicit Association Test and filled out a gender-specific questionnaire for measuring explicit attitudes. The results showed that elementary and secondary school teachers had negative implicit attitudes toward ethnic minority students, independent of students’ gender. Whereas secondary school teachers were implicitly more positive toward boys, elementary school teachers were implicitly more positive toward girls. Elementary school teachers were more enthusiastic about teaching ethnic minority boys than girls. The findings provide the first insights into differences in attitudes between elementary and secondary school teachers.

Psychopathy and Depression as Predictors of the Satanic Syndrome

Abstract The aims of this research were to determine: (1) the existence of an internally consistent and valid latent construct of the Satanic syndrome, and (2) if psychopathy and depression are significant predictors of the Satanic syndrome within different sex and ethnic subsamples. We conducted a survey in a community sample of adult Christians in the region of eastern Croatia where the Croats (most who are members of the Roman Catholic Church) live together with a Serbian ethnic minority (most who are members of the Serbian Orthodox Church). The equalized convenience sample (N=1100) was divided into two sex and ethnic homogenous subgroups. The Satanic syndrome proved to be characterized as a one-dimensional factorial construct indicating the importance of participating in Satanic rituals; psychic seances during which the dead are called to appear; persons becoming knowledgeable about black magic; being a member of an occult society; and reading books and magazines that deal with esoteric and occult issues. Multiple regression analysis showed that psychopathy and depression were significant predictors of the Satanic syndrome within both sex and ethnic different groups. Within male, female, Croatian and Serbian ethnic minority samples, the amount of variances explained by the predictor variables were 20, 18, 20, and 16 percent, respectively. There is evidence that depressive psychopaths are attracted to the Satanic syndrome as a means of obtaining magical power and control over their destiny, regardless of sex and ethnic differences. The hypothesis confirmed that comorbidity of psychopathy and depression expresses the existence of a destructive sub-personality underlying the Satanic syndrome which indicates the existence of Satanic spirituality.

Incremental and Predictive Validity of the Antisocial Process Screening Device in a Community Sample of Male and Female Ethnic Minority and Caucasian Youth.

The Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) is a well-supported tool for assessing psychopathic features in youth. However, most research with the APSD has been derived from clinical and forensic samples comprised mainly of male Caucasian and African American adolescents. In this prospective study, the incremental and predictive validity of the self-report APSD for violent and non-violent offending was examined in an ethnically diverse community sample of male and female youth (N=335) aged 12 to 14. High-school students from a moderate sized city in Western Canada completed the self-report APSD and then completed the Self-Report of Offending 6months later. Receiver Operating Characteristics analysis indicated that APSD total and subscale scores were predictive of violent and non-violent offending at 6-month follow-up with moderate to large effect sizes. In addition, total scores on the APSD added incremental predictive utility above and beyond traditional criminogenic predictors of youth offending (i.e., prior offending, delinquent peer affiliation, poor school achievement, substance use, low parental monitoring). Although sex differences emerged in the predictive utility of the Impulsivity subscale of the APSD vis-à-vis violent offending, sex did not moderate the relationship between APSD total, Narcissism, or Callous/Unemotional scores and offending. In addition, the predictive utility of the APSD did not vary as a function of the youth's ethnic background. These findings suggest that: (1) the self-report APSD may have utility for risk or threat assessment with normative school populations, (2) APSD findings from higher risk samples generalize to a lower risk sample of high-school youth, and (3) predictive utility of APSD total scores do not differ across male and female Caucasian and ethnic minority youth.

Capitalizing on mobile technology to support healthy eating in ethnic minority college students

ABSTRACTObjective: To evaluate the capacity of a mobile technology–based intervention to support healthy eating among ethnic minority female students. Participants: Forty-three African American and Hispanic female students participated in a 3-week intervention between January and May 2013. Methods: Participants photographed their meals using their smart phone camera and received motivational text messages 3 times a day. At baseline, postintervention, and 10 weeks after the intervention, participants reported on fruit, vegetable, and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. Participants were also weighed at baseline. Results: Among participants with body mass index (BMI) ≥25, fruit and vegetable consumption increased with time (p < .01). Among participants with BMI <21, consumption of fruit decreased (p < .05), whereas the consumption of vegetables remained stable. No effects were found for sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. Conclusion: Mobile technology–based interventions could facilitate healthy eating among female ethnic minority college students, particularly those with higher BMI.

The Occupational Roles of Women and Ethnic Minorities on Primetime Television in Belgium: An Analysis of Occupational Status Measurements

In this study, we investigate differences in occupational status between women and men, and between ethnic minority and majority members, by means of a content analysis of Belgian prime-time television in 2013. We evaluate the accuracy of these television portrayals using interreality comparison strategies. Results indicate that although in television content women obtain higher average scores for occupational status than men, this is mainly due to the underrepresentation of women in low-status occupations. Although previous studies focused on the absence of women in high-status jobs, this analysis shows for the first time that women are also absent in low-status manual and industrial jobs. Ethnic minorities have lower average scores for occupational status. Moreover, interaction terms made clear that this especially holds for female ethnic minorities, suggesting that mechanisms of intersectionality are at play. In general, the labor world as portrayed on television diverges strongly from the real labor world.

Regulating and Transgressing the Borders of the Berlin Republic in Doris Dörrie's &lt;em&gt;The Hairdresser&lt;/em&gt;

This article considers how, in The Hairdresser ( Die Friseuse , 2010), Doris Dorrie exposes the normalizing biopolitics of the Berlin Republic by offering an intersectional approach to thinking about discrimination in Germany and by establishing similarities between her white female protagonist and ethnic minorities. I examine how Dorrie employs ethnic minorities for her narrative by comparing The Hairdresser with Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul ( Angst essen Seele auf , 1974), another film with an intersectional approach to depicting discrimination in Germany and one that is implicitly referenced by Dorrie’s cinematography. I argue that although Dorrie’s film could be viewed as advancing the discussion on discrimination in Germany by considering the intersection of additional categories such as disability and citizenship, her film is inhibited by neoliberal tendencies, its comedic genre conventions, Dorrie’s wish to establish an easy solidarity between Germans and ethnic Others, and her attempts to forge audience identification with the protagonist.

In Defence of Gender Equality? Comparing the Political Debates about Headscarves and Honor-Related Crimes in France and the Netherlands

In this paper, we analyze political debates about headscarves and honor-related crimes in France and the Netherlands. We seek to explain why and how France and the Netherlands have come to unevenly politicize headscarves and honor crimes. Moreover, we try to understand how the argument of gender equality is used by different actors in these policy debates. We argue that the agenda and demands of ethnic minority women’s organizations are selectively included and bent to serve other, non-feminist agendas. Ethnic minority women’s organizations and female ethnic minority politicians have acted as agenda-setters, calling attention to marginalization, discrimination, and experiences of violence. Yet these issues were co-opted by (mainly) right-wing politicians to problematize the “deviant” culture of minorities and propose policies that further exclude them and paternalize them instead of improving their situation.