News from Members

Research panel at the 18^th IMISCOE Annual Conference

Luxembourg, 7-9^th July 2021

IMISCOE Standing Committee on Education and Social Inequality

The differential educational outcomes of immigrant or ethnic and racial minority students and their ‘majority’ counterparts have been extensively documented. Research often focuses on students’ cultural and social capital, cultural background or the social status of their parents in explaining such differences. However, increasingly studies also show the role and impact of discrimination and racism for educational inequalities and minority students’ sense of belonging and well-being.

Particularly critical methodologies and theoretical approaches (e.g., critical race theory) emphasize that we have to rethink our approach to understanding ongoing inequalities affecting marginalized categories. They highlight the role of structural power inequities, prevailing norms and institutional structures and processes in explaining discrimination. Also, such methodologies aim at redressing inequities and discrimination in education by centralizing the lived experiences and stories of marginalized individuals.

This panel aims at discussing issues of racism and discrimination in education in relation to wider structures of inequality.  We invite contributions that address for example the following questions:

• How do institutional policies, practices and standards (re-)produce inequalities and discrimination against immigrants and ethnic or racial minorities in education? (e.g., curricula, representation, pedagogical approaches, teacher attitudes, assessment, punishment systems)
• What forms of interpersonal discrimination and microaggressions are experienced by students with a migration background and ethnic/racial minority students? What is the social, academic, and psychological impact of this discrimination on students? How does the study of everyday discrimination experiences inform our understanding of structural ethnic/racial inequities?
• In what ways can critical methodologies and theoretical approaches enhance our understanding of structural inequities and ethnic/racial discrimination in education? How can we use their tools and insights to identify and redress various manifestations of racism in education? What are the implications of adopting concepts of “race” and “whiteness” to understand and challenge inequalities in education?
• How does the intersection of “race” with other categories of differentiation, e.g. gender, class, and sexuality affect the experiences of students with a migration background and ethnic/racial minority students? How do mechanisms of racism and discrimination in educational institutions operate at the intersection of these categories?
• What are the coping strategies developed by students of immigrant origin and ethnic/racial minority students in response to racism and discrimination in education? What are structural and institutional factors shaping these strategies? How can students be supported to develop self-protective and empowering coping responses in their educational settings?

Please submit your abstract (max. 300 words) to Fatma Zehra Çolak (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Christine Lang (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) no later than 22 November 2020. Please include a title, your name, email, and institutional affiliation. We will inform all authors on whether their abstract is accepted for the panel before 1^st December 2020. We expect that we know by 1^st February 2021 whether the panel is accepted by IMISCOE for the conference.