Recent work by the In/Equality Research Network Members

Receptive Dutch Course (B1-B2): For internationals Participating in Dutch Meetings

In/Equality network member dr. Frederike Groothoff is organising an event for internationals on participating in Dutch langauge meetings. 

Are you a (newly elected) member of a participation body at the university, or are you considering becoming a member? Do you want to pursue a career related to Dutch government bodies, corporations, or NGO’s? Do you understand quite a bit of Dutch, but are you feeling lost whenever your Dutch peers make jokes, speed up their language or use idioms, institutional keywords, and sayings? Then the Receptive Dutch Course (B1 - C1) for internationals might be something for you!

This course is an elaboration of the Dutch/English language policy that Utrecht University is developing in response to the Language and Accessibility Bill (wetsvoorstel Taal en Toegankelijkheid). This Dutch course is specifically designed for (future) international members of participation bodies (University Council, faculty councils, education committees) or other international, who want to improve their Dutch receptive skills to be able to better participate in meetings. The course is also interesting for students who wish to pursue a career in Dutch administration, politics, or diplomacy. You can signup via the development guide, or contact the coordinator Multilingualism and Participation Frederike Groothoff.

'Stratification Mechanisms in Labour Market Matching of Migrants' (2023)

This recently published article, by In/Equality network member dr. Merve Burnazoglu addresses the topic of stratification. It was published on January 2023 by the Cambridge Journal of Economics. The abstract for the paper can be found below. 

Abstract

"I aim to challenge the standard framework in which systematic exclusion is mistakenly characterised as only a frictional phenomenon that fails to be captured in migrants’ labour market matching mechanisms. Societies organise and rank people in a hierarchical way, not only in terms of individual differences and characteristics but with respect to social groups and categories of people. These macro patterns systematically subject some migrant groups to different forms of exclusion. Social stratification, explained in terms of social identity-based institutional structures, organises labour markets into different destinations like clubs with sharply different sets of opportunities. It functions like a trap for migrants: it reinforces itself by reproducing systems of exclusion and creates dilemmas for migrants. Can migrants organise themselves to avoid such traps? I show that exclusion is endogenous to employment as a type of good in the standard goods typology. Treating different types of employment opportunities as being like clubs, I investigate how migrants join or create alternative employment clubs as a response to real or perceived exclusion from native employment clubs. If these alternative clubs are ‘sticky’ and discourage migrants from trying to join natives’ exclusive employment clubs, the trap becomes inescapable. For migrants to escape the stratification trap, employment should be seen not only as an investment but as a collective action problem structurally targeting exclusion."

If this caught your attention and you're interested in reading more, you can click here or use the following citation: 

Burnazoglu, M. (2023). "Stratification mechanisms in labour market matching of migrants," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 47, Issue 1, January 2023, Pages 67–89, https://doi-org.proxy.library.uu.nl/10.1093/cje/beac058