Acculturation identity and employment among second and middle generation immigrants

This paper explores the employment implications for individuals with a foreign background of identification to the ethnic group and to the majority culture. Results indicate that what matters for employment outcomes is an attachment to the majority culture while a strong attachment to the ethnic group is not per se detrimental for employment outcomes.

Acculturation Identity and Higher Education: Is There a Trade-off Between Ethnic Identity and Education?

This paper examines the role of identification to home and host cultures on the pursuit of higher educations. Results indicate that men with a bicultural identity are associated with higher probabilities of completed tertiary educations than men that identify only with the majority culture. Results put into question the premise of oppositional identities, i.e. a trade-off between ethnic identity and higher educational achievement.

Is It How You Look or Speak That Matters? - An Experimental Study Exploring the Mechanisms of Ethnic Discrimination

Using a laboratory experiment, this paper explores if beliefs about an individual’s performance are affected by how this person looks and speaks. Results show that individuals not perceived as stereotypically Swedish are considered to be worse performers. However, when candidates are presented by both looks and speech, differential evaluations based on looks disappear. Instead, we find strong negative beliefs about performance for candidates that speak Swedish with a foreign accent.

Gender Differences in Exiting Tournaments - Experimental Evidence from Mexico, Norway and Sweden

Using data from a television game-show, this study examines if men and women, who have actively self-selected into a competitive environment, differ in their propensity to exit a high-stakes tournament. Results show no gender differences in the propensity to leave the tournament in all three countries tested.

This paper explores the employment implications for second and middle generation immigrants in Sweden of identification to the ethnic group and to the majority culture, so-called acculturation identity. Results indicate no significant differences in employment probabilities between those that identify only with majority (assimilated) and those that identify with both the majority culture and the ethnic group (integrated). What appears to matter for employment outcomes is an attachment to the majority culture while a strong attachment to the ethnic group is not per se detrimental for employment outcomes.

Using a unique laboratory experiment where subjects are asked to guess the test performance of candidates presented by facial portraits and voice messages, this paper explores the following questions: Are beliefs about performance affected by if a candidate is perceived to have an appearance non-stereotypical for the dominant population and do these beliefs change if the candidate has a native-like versus accented speech? The experiment is conducted in Sweden and the results show that candidates not perceived as stereotypically Swedish are considered to be worse performers. These beliefs are found in within-gender but not in cross-gender evaluations and are not eliminated when additional performance-related information about the candidates is provided. When candidates are presented by both appearance and speech, differential evaluations based on appearance disappears. Instead, we find strong negative beliefs about performance for candidates that speak Swedish with an accent implying that ethnic stereotypes associated with speech override stereotypes associated with appearance. Information on candidates’ actual test scores are used to evaluate mean differences. The negative beliefs associated with an accented speech are not supported by corresponding mean differences in the candidates’ actual test scores.