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Diversity policies have become an indispensable part of higher education institutions (HEIs) of the Global North. The increased monitoring by the European Commission has led to changes in Belgian HEI policy especially regarding gender. While research shows that the implementation of diversity policies has a positive effect on redistributing power, critics point out how the initial aim of these policies has been answered by empty promises. This research is based on 50 in-depth interviews of the perceptions and experiences of female academics with diversity policies in five Belgian HEIs. Results show that women perceive these policies as ways to window-dress equality externally, but do not have the expected effects internally. Women were divided on the utilisation of positive action. In addition, the policies lacked an intersectional perspective regarding ethnic minority backgrounds as well as family status for faculty. Studying their experiences and perceptions will allow staff equality agenda in HEIs to progress.

In this study, we introduce a critical assessment of methodological assumptions made by researchers when using correspondence tests to measure ethnic discrimination. We aim to investigate whether (1) the order in which the applications are sent out, between the test and control person, (2) the conducted matched triad tests, in comparison to matched duo tests, and (3) the timing of application within the week, have an effect on discrimination rates. For this purpose, we made use of 2.984 matched correspondence tests across Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Our findings suggest that the correspondence tests are rather robust for the variability in methodology. While these different methodological choices do affect the general invitation rates, they do not affect discrimination rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify rental discrimination on the Flemish rental housing market in Belgium, taking the intersectional nature of discrimination into account. Most discrimination studies focus on unequal access based on one individual discrimination ground. This practice eludes the context of the other discrimination grounds in which rental discrimination occurs and neglects the intersectional nature of discrimination. We therefore conducted 8.245 correspondence tests in almost all municipalities in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. We apply an intersectional lens, by considering the relation and interaction between gender (male/female), ethnic origin (Moroccan/Polish) and the homogeneity of names (homogenous/mixed). We find four strata of rental discrimination, in which Moroccan female rental candidates with a homogenous name experience most discrimination, indicating that multiple categorical identities enforce each other. Without a full intersectional approach, these layered patterns of exclusion would have been hidden behind the bold boundaries of ethnic or gender categorizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notwithstanding persistent levels of ethnic discrimination on the rental housing market, we have witnessed in many West-European countries a shift from targeted multicultural to colour-blind policies. At the same time, anti-immigration attitudes remained relatively stable. Whether and how these attitudes are translated in support or aversion toward anti-discrimination policies is, however, still unclear. As the first study in Europe we analyse public support for eight policy measures to tackle rental discrimination against ethnic minorities. Based on multilevel analyses among a sample of 899 adults in Belgium, we show that there is large support among the general public for testing, training and campaigning against ethnic discrimination on the housing market. General support for affirmative action measures is, however, much lower. In addition, support for anti-discrimination policies is strongly related to ethnic prejudices. People with more – especially subtle – prejudices are less likely to support policies against rental discrimination. Moreover, prejudices also mediate the effects of interethnic contacts and outgroup size on policy support. Finally, local housing market indicators do not play a significant role in the public support for anti-discrimination policies on the housing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on intake focusses on the restrictions parents' capital cause on their abilities to choose. However, the steering effect of schools in the choice-process has been neglected. We chose the Flemish context to investigate ethnic- and class-discrimination in the enrolment to kindergarten (N = 2243). The Flemish education system is known for its exceptional 'freedom of choice' allowing parents to enrol their children into their school of preference without restrictions. Simultaneously, the education system is highly decentralized due to the principle of 'freedom of education' that grants high levels of autonomy to schools in creating their school policies. Using correspondence testing, the results show that schools act as gatekeepers using subtle discriminatory strategies to keep students with an underprivileged background out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correspondence testing is an increasingly used method to measure ethnic discrimination. Hereby researchers make use of names to signal ethnic origin. Nevertheless, it is rather rare that the used names are thoroughly pretested. Names are implicitly or explicitly assumed to contain clear signals of ethnic origin. Besides, individual differences in ethnic perceptions of names are ignored. Therefore, this study aims to analyze how the ethnic perception of Polish, Moroccan, Turkish, and Congolese names differ according to one's negative racial attitudes and intergroup contacts as well as the ethnic diversity of the municipality where one resides. We conducted a survey among 990 ethnic majority members in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. People with more negative blatant attitudes find it harder to perceive the ethnic origin of names as compared to people with less negative blatant attitudes. The opposite holds for people with negative subtle attitudes. More ethnic diversity in the municipality where one resides makes it easier to recognize Moroccan, Turkish, and Congolese names, but not Polish names. This implies that the level of ethnic discrimination is probably underestimated among people with blatant racial attitudes, as well as among respondents that live in less diverse areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate to which extent the ethnic and socio-economic composition of the neighbourhood is related to levels of discrimination in the rental housing market and how this is linked to theories of ethnic discrimination. Hereby, we divide the context into the neighbourhood of the dwelling and the real estate agency, using data from 2385 correspondence tests conducted among realtors in the city of Antwerp in Belgium. Regarding the neighbourhood of the dwelling, we find a tipping point at one third ethnic minorities whereafter ethnic discrimination decreases, which is in line with the perceived preference hypothesis and customer-based prejudice. A lower socio-economic composition relates to lower general invitation rates, which we describe as an elaboration of Putnam's hunkering down hypothesis. Regarding the neighbourhood of the real estate agency, a higher percentage of ethnic minorities leads to lower general invitation rates, also referring to the hunkering down hypothesis. The socio-economic neighbourhood composition of the agency, however, has no impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different methodologies rely on names, by assuming that people clearly and solely perceive signals of ethnic-national origin from names. This study examines the perception of names from an intersectional perspective in a West-European context. Firstly, we analyze whether people perceive signals of ethnic-national origin in names. Secondly, we test the excludability assumption by analyzing whether names signal also other factors. Thirdly, we distinguish between homogenous and mixed names. For these purposes, we collected data on the perception of 180 names in Belgium of Belgian, Moroccan, Turkish, Polish and Congolese origin. It appears that respondents distinguish Belgian from non-Belgian names rather than perceiving a specific ethnic-national origin. Besides, people perceive signals about a person's gender, religiosity, social class and educational level. This implies that scholars should be precautious with comparing discrimination against ethnic groups, if ethnic-national origin is only signaled through names. Moreover, the question arises as to what we are measuring exactly, since names contain complex signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This explorative study examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ethnic discrimination. By means of 482 pairwise matched correspondence tests in pre-Covid times and 440 tests in Covid times, we examine discrimination against candidates of Maghrebian and Congolese origin on the housing market of a metropolitan city in Belgium. While the absolute invitation rates decreased for both Maghrebian and Belgian candidates at almost the same pace in Covid times, the relative net rate of discrimination of Maghrebian candidates increased significantly from 20% to 36%. With respect to candidates of Congolese origin, the absolute invitation rate only decreased sharply for Belgian candidates but not for Congolese candidates, with declining relative net rates of discrimination from 17% to 6% as a consequence. This suggests that the effect of Covid-19 on discrimination is different for different ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although studies have shown ethnic discrimination in the sharing economy, there is surprisingly little research about discrimination on Airbnb. As the first correspondence study after the anti-discrimination directive launched by Airbnb in 2016, we examine to which extent there is still ethnic discrimination against guests on Airbnb. We conducted 1043 correspondence tests on the Airbnb platform in Belgium during the Covid-summer of 2021. Guests with Moroccan-sounding names have 6.9% lower acceptance rates than those with Belgian-sounding names, while there is no discrimination against guests of Polish origin. Non-professional Airbnb hosts tend to discriminate much less than professional hosts. The ethnic difference in acceptance rates between Belgian and Moroccan guests accrues to 14.7% among professional hosts, while there is no discrimination by non-professional hosts. Moreover, revealing the vaccination status of the guest does not impact the level of discrimination. These findings suggest that the anti-discrimination policy of Airbnb is insufficient. • We conducted 1043 correspondence tests on the Airbnb platform in Belgium during the Covid-summer of 2021. • Guests with Moroccan-sounding names have 6.9% lower acceptance rates than those with Belgian-sounding names, while there is no discrimination against guests of Polish origin. • The ethnic difference in acceptance rates between Belgian and Moroccan guests accrues to 14.7% among professional hosts, while there is no ethnic difference among non-professional hosts. • This study demonstrates that the Instant book function, which Airbnb introduced in 2016 to inhibit discrimination and bias in the personal selection on Airbnb, is to some extent effective to mitigate discrimination. • These findings suggest that the anti-discrimination policy of Airbnb is insufficient to tackle ethnic discrimination on the platform. More is needed to eradicate discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the construction of high-rise buildings is a popular policy strategy for accommodating population growth in cities, there is still much debate about the health consequences of living in high flats. This study examines the relationship between living in high-rise buildings and self-rated health in Belgium. We use data from the Belgian Census of 2001, merged with the National Register of Belgium (N = 6,102,820). Results from multilevel, binary logistic regression analyses show that residents living in high-rise buildings have considerable lower odds to have a good or very good self-rated health in comparison with residents in low-rise buildings (OR 0.67; 95 % CI 0.67-0.68). However, this negative relationship disappears completely after adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic variables (OR 1.04; 95 % CI 1.03-1.05), which suggests that residents' worse self-rated health in high-rise buildings can be explained by the strong demographic and socioeconomic segregation between high- and low-rise buildings in Belgium. In addition, there is a weak, but robust curvilinear relationship between floor level and self-rated health within high-rise buildings. Self-rated health increases until the sixth floor (OR 1.19; 95 % CI 1.15-1.24) and remains stable from the seventh floor and upwards. These findings refute one of the central ideas in architectural sciences that living in high buildings is bad for one's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is big contextual variation in ethnic and gender discrimination in a metropolitan city. • Big and more female centered real estate offices tend to discriminate less. • Poorer neighborhoods and neighborhoods with more ethnic minorities show less ethnic discrimination in a city. Ethnic discrimination proves to be a persistent problem on the private rental market. However, little attention has been paid to contexts that might impact discrimination on the housing market, partly due to the fact that these factors have not been integrated into a comprehensive study. We aim to investigate whether the types of discriminatory behavior vary and/or are moderated by three types of contextual factors: (1) dwelling indicators, such as type of dwelling and price category; (2) neighborhood indicators, such as socioeconomic and ethnic composition of the neighborhood; and – to the best of our knowledge the first time in research - (3) real estate agency indicators, such as the gender structure and size of the agency. For this purpose, we made use of data from 2,014 matched correspondence tests on ethnic discrimination among 493 real estate agencies in Brussels Capital Region in Belgium. Our findings suggest that candidates of North African origin face discrimination when searching for an apartment to rent. We also found that discrimination is lower in poorer and more ethnically mixed neighborhoods and higher in smaller and male-dominated real estate offices. We call for a bigger focus on both spatial and organizational context in research on discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examines whether there is an association between network social capital and self-rated health after controlling for social support. Moreover, we distinguish between network social capital that emerges from strong ties and weak ties. We used a cross-sectional representative sample of 815 adults from the Belgian population. Social capital is measured with the position generator and perceived social support with the MOS Social Support-scale. Results suggest that network social capital is associated with self-rated health after adjustment for social support. Because different social classes have access to different sets of resources, resources of friends and family from the intermediate and higher service classes are beneficial for self-rated health, whereas resources of friends and family from the working class appear to be rather detrimental for self-rated health. From a health-promoting perspective, these findings indicate that policy makers should deal with the root causes of socioeconomic disadvantages in society. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite the importance of household characteristics for residential mobility, these characteristics are seldom considered in research on ethnic residential segregation. This study seeks to fill this gap when focusing on the residential behaviour of ethnic minorities and the constraints they face on the housing market. We use conditional logit modelling to analyse the Belgian Census 2011 in order to investigate the relationship between, on the one hand, the presence of children and marital status and, on the other hand, living in neighbourhoods with many coethnics in Brussels and Antwerp, focusing on households formed by young adults of Moroccan descent. We find no association for the presence of children but find clear differences based on marital status. Unmarried couples are less likely than married couples to live in neighbourhoods with many coethnics. Moreover, there appear to be gender differences: Female‐headed single‐person households are less likely than married couples to live in neighbourhoods with many coethnics, whereas male‐headed single‐person households are more likely to do so. On the basis of these results, we conclude that the existing ethnic residential segregation theories that focus on ethnic minorities should take household characteristics into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]