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There is a growing interest in cross-cultural comparative research of attitudes. In many studies it is assumed that attitudes are comparable across cultures. Often this assumption is not tested. In this paper we argue that before comparing attitudes among different cultural groups two methodological issues need to be investigated. First, any measurement of latent attitudes should exclude the possibility that response style biases measurement. Secondly, cross-cultural comparisons are only valid if construct equivalence is tested. In this article we demonstrate the flexibility of a multigroup latent class factor approach in detecting extreme response bias and in investigating construct equivalence. Using data from the MHSM surveys among Turkish and Moroccan minorities in Belgium we detected a tendency toward extreme response style behavior in answering Likert type attitudes toward gender roles and perceived discrimination. Furthermore, a model with several covariates proved to be partially homogeneous. The results indicated that the partially homogeneous model with direct effects of ethnic group and correcting for response style behavior allowed for `fine-tuning' the estimated effects of the covariates on the latent content factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a number of studies in many countries have investigated the impact of the ethnic and socio-economic composition of schools on academic performance, few studies have analyzed in detail how and why compositional features matter. This article presents an examination of whether pupils’ sense of futility and schools’ futility culture account for the impact of ethnic and socio-economic status (SES) composition of schools on the academic achievement of their pupils. Multilevel analyses of data based on a survey of 2,845 pupils (aged 10–12 years) in 68 Flemish primary schools revealed that higher proportions of immigrant and working-class pupils in a school is associated with lower levels of math achievement in both immigrant and native Belgian pupils. However, by analyzing at a deeper level, by taking control variables into account, our study found that the ethnic composition of the school no longer had a significant effect on pupils’ achievement, while the SES composition still did. Most importantly, our results indicated that the remaining impact of SES composition can be explained by pupils’ sense of futility and schools’ futility culture. The implications of these findings for educational policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although the field of study regarding coupled careers is extending, it has not yet focussed on the glass ceiling effect. In this article, partner effects on promotions to top positions are investigated. Discrete time event history analysis is performed on data from the Panel Study of Belgian Households (PSBH, 1994–2001). Two types of partner effects are analysed: the effect of having a partner and the effect of certain characteristics of the partner. The data do not provide evidence for effects of merely having a partner. With regard to partner characteristics, it is confirmed that positive partner effects dominate, both for labour market and for financial resources. These results can be explained by social capital theory: resources of the partner stimulate the personal social capital and therefore also the personal career. Therefore, it is stated that being in a dual-career couple is in the interest of both partners’ individual careers. On the other hand, a negative effect of the number of working hours of the male partner on women’s promotion probabilities is found. It is concluded that, in order to break through the glass ceiling, women benefit from their partner’s resources but that they also need the opportunity and, more specifically, the time to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We examine the emergence of regional information offices representing (subnational) regions of Europe near the administrative headquarters of the European Union in Brussels. Regional offices are viewed as instances of a new form of organization, and as indicating collective action on the basis of regional boundaries. We develop a theoretical model of regional collective action from which we derive a number of hypotheses relating characteristics of a region to the likelihood of regional collective action, as manifested by the opening of an office in Brussels. Logistic regression analyses of the presence or absence of representation for 183 regions yield results largely consistent with the theoretical model. Significant effects on the likelihood of representation are found for the following variables (directions): absolute size of the region (positive), size relative to the embedding country (negative), percentage of the labour force in industry (positive), share of Structural Funds per capita (negative), labour force diversity (negative), strength of subnational identification (positive), and regional autonomy (positive). The empirical results are interpreted in the context of the theoretical model of regional collective action, and within the broad European historical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]