Revealing unconscious stereotypes can help preventing discriminatory behaviour

19 May 2021

Home » Research News » Revealing unconscious stereotypes can help preventing discriminatory behaviour

Commissioned by the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies and the Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) is working on a national survey on racism, opinions on immigration and perceptions of ethno-racial discrimination as a witness or as a victim in Luxembourg. The survey will be launched in June 2021.

The rise of Black Lives Matter and No to Racism movements, as well as the recent social media boycotts by athletes, artists and other celebrities, show how racism and ethno-racial discrimination are still real in society. Those forms of discrimination occur in many areas of daily life, such as employment, housing, access to healthcare and education. Measuring their frequency and extent is not an easy task. It is a topical issue in Luxembourg which new survey will give indicators.

New LISER’s Policy Brief examines stereotypes about immigrant students and discrimination in grading

While not anticipating the results of the Luxembourg’s survey, LISER’s Crossing Borders Research Programme is undertaking a comprehensive examination of the factors that determine ethno-racial discrimination, the links with the rise of radical parties and populism, and the means to combat discrimination. In this context, Policy Brief 2021-041 by Michela Carlana (Harvard University), Eliana La Ferrara (Bocconi University) and Paolo Pinotti (Bocconi University) highlights the effect of stereotype awareness on discriminatory behaviour.

Latest ‘Policy Brief – Crossing Borders at a Glance‘ focuses on the Italian context, where mass immigration is relatively recent and politically salient.
The three researchers collected a unique dataset merging a survey with around 1,400 teachers with administrative data on student outcomes. Using an Implicit Association Test (IAT), the study reveals that teachers who are biased implicitly against immigrants give lower grades.

Explore LISER’s Policy Brief 2021-041

The Crossing Borders at a Glance series is part of LISER’s Crossing Borders interdisciplinary research programme. Overall, it aims to instigate, coordinate and develop research on issues related to the cross-border mobility mobility of people.