Could you help me,please? Intersectional field experiments on everyday discrimination in clothing stores

Although we live in a society that pictures itself as antiracial and gender equal, research has shown that subtle forms of discrimination persist and affect the everyday life of ethnic minorities and women. This study investigates everyday discrimination while shopping in clothing stores of different price ranges from an intersectional perspective looking at ethnic and gender discrimination. To measure discrimination, we performed situation tests among 301 salesclerks. Results show that customers from Maghrebi descent receive unfavourable treatment in comparison with their Belgian counterparts when they ask for their clothing size. Furthermore, they are greeted or approached less often and are more surveilled and followed by salesclerks. Gender follows a specific pattern. Men are significantly more greeted and approached than women within both Maghrebi and Belgian groups. Moreover, men are more stared at and followed by the shop assistant, but this is only significant for the Maghrebi group. There is no difference in receiving help between men and women within both groups. In general, the intensity and form of discrimination tend to be subtler and lower in high-end than low-end stores.     

Equality for all? Support for equal opportunity among professors in Europe

Equal Opportunity programs (EO) continue to be at the center of the debate about promoting equality in higher education. While support for EO has been well-studied in American higher education, this research is the first to investigate the attitudes towards and support for a range of EO policies among professors in Europe. We specifically examine faculty support for seven different EO measures used in European universities that require varying levels of involvement and commitment. From a sample of 689 professors, findings show that women professors tend to show more support for all EO programs compared to men professors. We also see differences across disciplines. Professors from the humanities and social sciences are more likely to endorse such programs than their counterparts in STEM disciplines. Moreover, the differences across disciplines and gender decrease substantially when controlling for racial and gender attitudes. Finally, soft/differential programs, which prioritize merit but take group membership into account are preferred over hard/preferential programs which prioritize achieving equality by targeting members from marginalized groups. This research is innovative for its geographical location, sample of study, and range of included measures.     

The Google voter: search engines and elections in the new media ecology

This paper explores key Internet search trends for electoral information vis-à-vis the broader media ecology in the UK and the US. An innovative methodology is introduced that maps the informational trajectories of key election events by combining Google Trends data linked to significant news events during the campaigns. While the research found spikes of search that suggested a seemingly trivial event in the US could drive voters to search out deeper information on related policy issues, the study did not find the same phenomenon in the UK. This invites a reflection on the opportunities available to Internet users/voters in the changing informational landscape and how scholars can leverage Google Trends records to better understand how voters seek information in new and evolving media ecologies.