It has been scientifically proven for the first time that MBO students with an immigrant background are discriminated against when finding an internship. Verwey Jonker Institute Tested in practice Those who were invited and who were not invited to the training.
The institute conducted the research on behalf of the municipality of Utrecht and the MBO institutions in that city. A total of 577 applications were sent to 288 vacancies. More than 600 students from Utrecht also completed a questionnaire.
Internal discrimination is particularly prevalent among ICT companies. MBO students with an Islamic background find it more difficult to find an internship there than other students. There is no discrimination in health and care. Students whose CVs show that they are Muslims are the most favored. Women are also more likely to have an advantage.
Women are more likely to get training
According to the researchers, the tests unequivocally show that female students are more likely to respond positively than male students. This is especially true of construction and engineering. Clearly allowing positive discrimination legally in those sectors has an impact there.
Muhammad Day, a researcher at the Verwey Jonker Institute, calls the research special. “It is the first time that both objective and perceived discrimination have been examined simultaneously, in the local context of intrinsic discrimination.”
About a quarter of Utrecht MBO students told researchers that they experienced or suspected discrimination when seeking an internship. During an internship, one in eight students experiences discrimination. This mainly pertains to discrimination based on educational level, the country in which their parents or grandparents were born, religion, clothing, appearance, and skin color.
