The Role of the Ethnic Majority in Integration Processes: Attitudes and Practices towards Immigrants in Catalan Institutions

Project Information

REPCAT

Grant agreement ID: 747075

DOI

10.3030/747075

Project closed

EC signature date 27 February 2017

Start date 1 September 2018

End date 31 August 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 170 121,60

EU contribution

€ 170 121,60

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - REPCAT (The Role of the Ethnic Majority in Integration Processes: Attitudes and Practices towards Immigrants in Catalan Institutions)

Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2020-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The main objective of the REPCAT project was to examine how diversity is represented, and what barriers there are for the participation of immigrants and ethnic minorities, in three Catalan public institutions: the education system, the police force, and the Barcelona City Council. The basic assumption was that the ethnic diversity of Catalan society is underrepresented by its institutions, which contributes to hamper integration processes and cement inequalities, as minority groups lack both role models and access to influence on policy-making and institutional practices. At a general level, it aims to expand our understanding of why the inequalities between the native majority and the ethnic minorities remain deep despite policies that embrace interculturalism and non-discrimination, and why the ethnic diversity of society is still not represented by its institutions. The study distinguishes between physical representation of diversity, meaning the actual presence of immigrants and minorities at different positions within the public institutions, and discursive representation, which refers to if and how ethnic diversity is incorporated in institutional agendas and publications as school books or political party programs. It confirms that people of immigrant or ethnic minority origin, as the Roma, are indeed underrepresented in these institutions, while recognizing the difficulties involved in conducting such mapping as there are no ethnic registers in Spain. Moreover, the study concludes that there is a significant gap between the general intercultural discourse that defines the Catalan integration policy framework, and multiple practices that continue to reproduce disadvantage for immigrants and minorities, though unintentionally. The project argues that there is a need to go beyond anti-discrimination policies and consider measures that explicitly address underrepresentation, as ethnic quotas in access to public employment.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Three case studies were conducted, one for each of the three key institutions defined above (the Catalan education system, the Catalan police force and the Barcelona City Council), complemented by additional fieldwork as interviews with representatives of ethnic minority organizations. The data was collected through methodological triangulation, combining the following methods:
i) Mapping of diversity (due to the lack of ethnic registers, such data was largely collected through interviews with representatives of the respective institutions).
ii) Content analysis of a large amount of printed and online material, as school text books, police training content, diversity policy documents, and party programs.
iii) Stakeholder interviews: 33 interviews with representatives of the Catalan Department of Education, headmasters and teachers of public and semi-private schools, representatives of the Catalan police force with different ranks and origins, politicians of ethnic minority background, police aspirants of ethnic minority background, and representatives of ethnic organizations.
iv) Participant observation during 12 meetings and seminars with key actors representing the Catalan Government, the education system, academia and policy-makers.
v) Policy evaluation. Specific intercultural policy actions were evaluated.
The study confirms that people of immigrant or ethnic minority origin are indeed underrepresented in these institutions. Moreover, the study concludes that there is a significant gap between the general intercultural discourse that defines the Catalan integration policy framework, and multiple practices that continue to reproduce disadvantage for immigrants and minorities, though unintentionally. The project argues that there is a need to go beyond anti-discrimination policies and consider measures that explicitly address underrepresentation, as ethnic quotas in access to public employment.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project is concluded and the results will be disseminated to the participating institutions as well as to the broader society, including media and policy-making actors, as soon as the final project report is edited in a dissemination-friendly version. The participating institutional actors expressed great interest in receiving the project’s conclusions, and this was taken into account when formulating a series of policy recommendations based on the results, which are intended to have a concrete impact on the underrepresentation and inequalities that affect immigrants and ethnic minorities negatively:
i) Improved information and educational support in schools. The results indicate that school failure prevents many immigrant/minority students from reaching higher education and become teachers, for instance. A more proactive approach at an early age seems necessary.
ii) Ethnic diversity mainstreaming in teacher training programs and public policies.
iii) Critical revision of text books and other educational material. Currently, educational material is decided by schools and not revised. A recommendation based on the project results is to find means to, for instance, insure that the Roma people’s history in the country is integrated in text books on Spanish history; that a nuanced view on immigration, its causes and consequences, is included; or that other continents as Africa, Asia and Latin America are not described in derogative or simplistic manners.
iv) Ethnic diversity quotas in access tests to public employment.
v) Revision of criteria for access to public employment. The project found, for instance, testimonies of young people of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin who had not been able to acquire Spanish citizenship and were therefore not eligible for public employment. Such laws were considered as overtly discriminatory by several of the representatives of the ethnic organizations.