Beyond ‘migrant background’: how to select relevant, social justice oriented, and feasible social categories in educational research

Abstract

Across continental Europe, educational research samples are often divided by ‘migrant background’, a binary variable criticized for masking participant heterogeneity and reinforcing exclusionary norms of belonging. This study endorses more meaningful, representative, and precise research by offering four guiding questions for selecting relevant, social justice oriented, and feasible social categories for collecting and analysing data in psychological and educational research. Using a preregistered empirical example, we first compare selected social categories (‘migrant background’, family heritage, religion, citizenship, cultural identification, and generation status) in their potential to reveal participant heterogeneity. Second, we investigate differences in means and relations between variables (discrimination experiences, perceived societal Islamophobia, and national identity) and academic motivation among 1335 adolescents in Germany (48% female, Mage = 14.69). Regression analyses and multigroup SEM revealed differential experiences with and implications of discrimination for academic motivation. Results highlight the need for a deliberate, transparent use of social categories to make discrimination visible and centre participants’ subjective experiences.

Disentangling the effects of perceived personal and group ethnic discrimination among secondary school students: The protective role of teacher–student relationship quality and school climate

“…We are aware that in Germany, as in other countries, some ethnic minorities are more likely to face discrimination than others. As such, the effects of discrimination could be muted for not considering participants particular heritage (Vietze et al., 2021). A third limitation was the general nature of the personal and group discrimination items.…”

“…Data for this study were drawn from a sample of 828 adolescents who were recruited from a larger international cooperation focusing on hidden school dropout of students in different European countries, including Germany and Israel. Due to our interest in perceived ethnic discrimination of ethnic minority students, and as the term "immigrant background" does not capture discrimination based on ethnic group membership (Vietze, Moffitt, Schwarzenthal, & Civitillo, 2021), we focused on adolescents who self‐identified with at least one other culture in addition to the German one. We assessed participants’ cultural identification with an open response item: " In Germany, people from different cultures (e.g., German, Turkish, Polish, Russian background) are living together.…”

“…Vietze, Moffitt, Schwarzenthal, & Civitillo, 2021), we focused on adolescents who self-identified with at least one other culture in addition to the German one. We assessed participants' cultural identification with an open response item: "In Germany, people from different cultures (e.g., German, Turkish, Polish, Russian background) are living together.…”

Critical, Active, and Well-Adapted: Antecedents and Consequences of Adolescents’ Critical Consciousness Profiles

“…The major heritage countries are Turkey, Poland, and the Russian Federation (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2020). Whereas the construct of "race" is typically not assessed (Juang et al, 2021), the category of "migrant background" is frequently used, but is too broad to capture racial or ethnic discrimination experiences (Vietze et al, 2022). Recent data show that racial, ethnic, and religious inequities persist in German society, with Muslims, people with heritage from Turkey or Arabic-speaking countries (who are typically perceived as Muslims), and Black Germans and other Germans of color reporting particularly high amounts of discrimination (Aikins et al, 2021;SVR-Forschungsbereich, 2018).…”

“…Future research should explore alternative ways to capture degrees of societal stigmatization in the German context (Juang et al, 2021;Vietze et al, 2022).…”