Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Review of Digital Technology in Informal Education and Its Role in Educational Equity File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10894 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10894 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10894 Author-Name: Yufei Jiang Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law, Hangzhou City University, People’s Republic of China Author-Name: Chaoqun Lu Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Education, University of Macau, People’s Republic of China Author-Name: Bin Hu Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law, Hangzhou City University, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Digital technologies have profoundly transformed the landscape of education, enhancing learning approaches while raising concerns about digital equity. This review pays particular attention to informal education settings (e.g., public libraries, museums, and telecentres) and examines the application of digital technologies in these settings and their role in educational equity. Specifically, it focuses on the diverse Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), exploring the implications of digital technologies from a global perspective. Through a scoping review of 31 studies, this study synthesizes a broad spectrum of digital technologies employed in informal education, ranging from conventional digital tools (e.g., internet‐enabled computers, printers, and CD‐ROMs) to advanced digital technologies (e.g., online public access catalogs, immersive technologies, and artificial intelligence). By applying the PROGRESS‐PLUS framework’s equity dimensions, the review reveals the dual role of digital technologies: On one hand, the integration of digital technologies in informal education fosters inclusion for minority groups and improves accessibility to learning resources; on the other hand, it exacerbates disparities for individuals lacking access to digital infrastructure or sufficient digital literacy. The discussion explores the challenges and opportunities of digital integration in informal education, with specific implications for the GBA in China. Keywords: digital technology; equity; Greater Bay Area; informal education Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10894 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Contextualizing System Leadership in China: Evidence From Inter‐School Collaboration in the Greater Bay Area File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10998 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10998 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10998 Author-Name: Meng Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: South China Normal University, China Author-Name: Wei Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: Guangxi Normal University, China Author-Name: Jiafang Lu Author-Workplace-Name: The Education University of Hong Kong, China Author-Name: Haiyan Qian Author-Workplace-Name: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China Abstract: As inter‐school collaboration becomes a key strategy for educational improvement, the role of system leaders in sustaining such efforts has drawn increasing attention. Yet empirical research in the Chinese context remains limited. This study examines how system leaders facilitate sustainable inter‐school collaboration in China’s Greater Bay Area, focusing on a successful long‐term school partnership established under the government‐supported Sister School Scheme. Using a qualitative case study, we analyzed interview data from five principals—each holding multiple roles—as our primary data source. Documentary materials (e.g., policy texts and school reports) were used to triangulate and contextualize the interview findings. Thematic coding analysis shows that these leaders enacted system leadership by shifting among four interrelated roles—thought advocate, practice pioneer, boundary spanner, and resource mobilizer, each linked to specific leadership practices. The study advances international understanding of system leadership by showing how principals lead across school and system boundaries in China’s policy‐driven, cross‐border context. It also offers practical insights for sustaining inter‐school collaboration. Keywords: Greater Bay Area; inter‐school collaboration; Sister School Scheme; system leadership Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10998 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Understanding Teacher Learning Through “Boundary Crossing” in the Greater Bay Area: Voices From Hong Kong and Guangzhou File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10950 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10950 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10950 Author-Name: Jianjing Tang Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Education Policy and Leadership, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Author-Name: Jiafang Lu Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Education Policy and Leadership, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Abstract: Alongside the growing demand for educational reform, calls for commitment to teacher learning have increased exponentially in the last decade. Yet, little is known about the effects teacher learning across different educational systems (what we will also call “cross‐system teacher learning practices”) have on the work itself, or how the learning these teachers experience across schools is reflected in their engagement in practices and activities when they return to their original schools and classrooms. Through the lens of activity theory, this study aims to ascertain the experiences of groups of teachers in mainland China and Hong Kong who participate in cross‐system teacher learning activities. A qualitative multi‐case study was adopted where three schools were sampled in both Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Six principals and 12 teachers participated in the study. Interviews were collected and qualitatively analysed to categorise the major processes and effects of cross‐system teacher learning and capture the nature of cross‐system teacher learning in China. The study showed that: (a) education departments “set the tone” for teacher education across different educational systems; (b) teaching methods and “the other side” of educational development serve as boundary objects; (c) principals function as boundary brokers; and (d) different types of learning activities regulate teacher learning. Four recurrent themes emerged related to the impact of cross‐system teacher education: (a) awareness and understanding; (b) increased collective efficacy; (c) decision‐making and problem‐solving; and (d) teaching knowledge and skills. It is argued that equity and sustainability were central issues that teachers faced during the study. Relational trust contributed to teachers’ collaboration across different educational systems and community‐building. In the end of this article, suggestions to support cross‐system teacher learning are made and implications for future research are proposed. Keywords: activity theory; boundary crossing; educational systems; Hong Kong; mainland China; teacher learning Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10950 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Engaging With Mathematics: Exploring Different Learning Environments at the Elementary School Level File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10784 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10784 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10784 Author-Name: Hua Ran Author-Workplace-Name: Education Department, Jiangnan University, China Author-Name: Walter G. Secada Author-Workplace-Name: Teaching and Learning Department, University of Miami, USA Author-Name: Uma Gadge Author-Workplace-Name: Teaching and Learning Department, University of Miami, USA Author-Name: Denghui Liu Author-Workplace-Name: Education Department, Jiangnan University, China Abstract: This article examines the “effectiveness” of school‐level mathematics and explores how teachers’ instruction, within classrooms, contributes to an effective learning. By using multiple data sources, including classroom observations and teacher interviews, we found that students from “effective schools” receive more intellectual support than students in “typical schools” and benefit from better learning environments overall. We also found that the overall intellectual quality differs as per students’ ability level, favoring students of “lower ability” when they are enrolled in effective schools. Teacher interviews suggest that teachers from effective schools tend to hold higher expectations for low‐ability students than in typical schools and know how to adapt to them by adopting individualized instruction to meet their learning needs. Keywords: classroom learning environment; effective schools; elementary schools; mathematics; typical schools Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10784 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Perceived Social Support and Craftsmanship Spirit in Vocational Students: Mediating Roles of Professional Identity and Identity Recognition File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10868 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10868 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10868 Author-Name: Tengfei Guo Author-Workplace-Name: School of Educational Science, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, China Author-Name: YouYu Hu Author-Workplace-Name: School of Educational Science, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, China Author-Name: Yan Liang Author-Workplace-Name: School of Educational Science, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, China Author-Name: Chenzhi Cai Author-Workplace-Name: School of Educational Science, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, China Author-Name: Qian Li Author-Workplace-Name: School of Educational Science, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, China Author-Name: Yakun Ni Author-Workplace-Name: School of Educational Science, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, China / School of Psychology and Entrepreneurship, Guangdong University of Finance, China Abstract: In the context of a transforming manufacturing industry globally, skilled talents with a “craftsmanship spirit” are crucial for enhancing industrial competitiveness. While existing research primarily focuses on the development of “craftsmanship spirit” among frontline workers, it often overlooks the cultivation of this spirit in “skill‐oriented reserve talents” within higher vocational education. This study, grounded in social support theory, investigates how “perceived social support” among higher vocational students positively influences the development of their “craftsmanship spirit,” with “professional identity” and “identity recognition” acting as mediators. To mitigate potential “common method bias,” we employed a multi‐wave survey design, collecting data from 348 students across three higher vocational institutions at three different time points. The findings reveal that “perceived social support” significantly and positively impacts the development of “craftsmanship spirit” in higher vocational students. Furthermore, both “professional identity” and “identity recognition” are essential mediators in this relationship. This research advances the theoretical understanding of “craftsmanship spirit’s” antecedents while offering practical guidance for fostering professional ethics and identity cognition among skill‐oriented talents in vocational education. Keywords: craftsmanship spirit; higher vocational education; identity recognition; perceived social support; professional identity Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10868 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Cultivating Inclusive Classrooms: Strategies for Educational Equity for Non‐Chinese‐Speaking Students in Hong Kong’s Kindergartens File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10831 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10831 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10831 Author-Name: Jessie Ming Sin Wong Author-Workplace-Name: School of Education and Languages, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, China Abstract: This article explores how Hong Kong kindergartens promote inclusive early childhood education for non‐Chinese‐speaking children within the dynamic context of China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA). It builds upon the findings of a foundational survey of 161 kindergartens from the same research project, which revealed that while new government subsidies encouraged greater inclusion, significant challenges persisted. Specifically, our survey identified systemic barriers, including human resource shortages, a heavy reliance on kindergartens’ own efforts to overcome difficulties, and insufficient parental engagement, resulting in disparities in implementation. Building on these findings, this article moves from identifying problems to highlighting solutions. It analyzes qualitative data from 16 case reports, submitted for an award scheme on multicultural inclusion, and 10 follow‐up interviews to uncover exemplary practices. Using the CARE model (capability, aspirations, resources, engagement) as an analytical framework, this study identifies key strategies that proactive kindergartens employ, such as building multicultural learning environments, forging strong home‐school partnerships, and developing targeted outreach programs. The findings reveal that successful inclusion is not accidental but the result of a deliberate, holistic, and interconnected effort. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of how inclusive education policies can be effectively implemented in diverse urban contexts, offering valuable lessons for advancing educational equity and sustainable development (SDGs 4 and 10) in Hong Kong and, with local adaptation, in comparable urban contexts within the GBA and beyond. Keywords: early childhood education; educational equity; Greater Bay Area; inclusive education; multiculturalism; non‐Chinese‐speaking children Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10831 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Educational Equity for Migrant Children: A Policy Comparison of Shenzhen and Hong Kong File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10995 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10995 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10995 Author-Name: Xingxing Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR Author-Name: Louie Lei Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo, Norway / Centre for Research on Equality in Education, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract: This study examined how two contrasting governance systems—Shenzhen and Hong Kong—address educational equity for migrant and immigrant children within the context of China’s Greater Bay Area. While both cities have expanded access to compulsory education, their institutional logics diverge sharply. Shenzhen operates a contribution‐based model, linking school access to parental contribution to the city. In contrast, Hong Kong guarantees near‐universal access under a rights‐based regime grounded in legal entitlements. These differences raise fundamental questions about how equity is defined, prioritized, and implemented across jurisdictions. Drawing on Rawlsian principles of justice and Edgar’s five‐dimensional equity framework, a comparative policy analysis was conducted, using over 40 official documents, including legislative texts, admission guidelines, and statistical reports. Coding was used to trace how each system frames and operationalizes equity across access, input, process, output, and outcome dimensions. The findings show that, while both systems emphasize transparency and capacity expansion, they differ in how they identify target groups, allocate resources, and balance merit with need. Shenzhen’s points‐based system creates strong incentives for formalized urban integration, but disadvantages low‐income migrants structurally. Hong Kong’s legal universalism offers broader entitlement but struggles with linguistic exclusion and digital barriers. By linking normative theory with empirical analysis, this study offers a multidimensional understanding of how education systems interpret fairness in contexts of mobility and inequality. It also contributes to broader debates on policy transfer, urban governance, and the role of ethics in educational inclusion. Keywords: educational equity; Hong Kong; migrant children; Shenzhen Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10995 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: GeoMatch/MisMatch: A Critical Investigation of a Refugee Resettlement and Labour Market Integration Algorithm in the Netherlands File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10923 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10923 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10923 Author-Name: Kinan Alajak Author-Workplace-Name: School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Merve Burnazoglu Author-Workplace-Name: School of Economics, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Koen Leurs Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Gerwin van Schie Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Abstract: This article critically investigates the unintended and perverse effects of digital public technologies on refugees’ fundamental rights and socio‐economic inclusion. As a case study, we examine the GeoMatch algorithm, a recommender system implemented by the Dutch government to automate employment search and matching processes for refugees across its 35 labour market regions. As data and methods, we used close reading techniques to analyse a set of disclosed documents obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, drawing on the practices of investigative journalism. Contrary to official claims of effectiveness, economic impact, and objectivity, our findings suggest that GeoMatch’s algorithmic system prioritises aggregate optimisation over individual opportunities, with a disproportionate risk of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or marital status. The findings further indicate a diminished capacity for both refugees and reception officers to contest automated decisions, threatening refugees’ human dignity and self‐determination. We therefore argue that the deployment of GeoMatch should be reconsidered until these ethical concerns are adequately addressed. The article provides an empirical case supporting concerns raised in the literature on the role of algorithmic systems in social and economic stratification. Methodologically, our contribution endorses the emerging approach of combining FOI and close reading to study opaque technological systems and automated policy domains. Keywords: AI; Big Data; digital migration governance; freedom of information; FOI requests; GeoMatch algorithm; refugee reception; refugee resettlement Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10923 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Eritrean Refugees in the Digital Netherlands: Between Inclusion and Exclusion File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10834 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10834 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10834 Author-Name: Mihretab Solomon Gebru Author-Workplace-Name: Organization Sciences Department, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands Author-Name: Ioana Vrăbiescu Author-Workplace-Name: Organization Sciences Department, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands Abstract: While the use of digital technologies has been associated with refugees’ successful integration, this perspective overlooks the digital divide growing on the existing structural inequalities. For Eritrean refugees living in the Netherlands, the digital divide cuts deep into their personal lives and endangers their relation to authorities. Based on two months of ethnographic research and five continuous months of digital participant observation (first author), our article aims to show how differences in digital knowledge and unequal digital infrastructures between Eritrean asylum seekers and Dutch society led to challenges for both refugees and street‐level bureaucrats in the Netherlands. Tackling the case study of Eritrean refugees in the Netherlands, we demonstrate how a non‐homogeneous understanding of the digital divide, organizational blind spots, and a lack of socio‐political support hinder refugees’ integration. At the same time, the case study offers novel ways to ethically assess the digital training and learning paths of street‐level bureaucracy as well as the state’s adaptation and updating of the asylum seekers’ digital assessment framework in the Netherlands. Keywords: bureaucracy; digital divide; digital inclusion; Eritrea; refugees; The Netherlands Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10834 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Navigating Precarity Between Law and Profit: Migrant Riders in Italy, Poland, and Spain File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10959 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10959 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10959 Author-Name: Francesco Pasetti Author-Workplace-Name: CIDOB—Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Spain Author-Name: Eleonora Celoria Author-Workplace-Name: University of Turin, Italy Author-Name: Gianluca Iazzolino Author-Workplace-Name: Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK Author-Name: Katarzyna Rakowska Author-Workplace-Name: Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, Poland Abstract: This article examines how platform‐mediated food delivery work shapes the socio‐economic inclusion and exclusion of migrants in Italy, Poland, and Spain. Drawing on 60 in‐depth interviews with migrant riders in Turin, Warsaw, and Barcelona, the study adopts a comparative ethnographic approach to examine how distinct regulatory models—Italy’s “dual‐track,” Poland’s “contractual bricolage,” and Spain’s “regulated exclusion”—shape migrant inclusion in platform labour markets. Despite these differences, the findings reveal a striking convergence: migrant riders across all three contexts face legal ambiguity, economic insecurity, and algorithmic control, which together entrench their marginalisation. Theoretically, the article engages with scholarship on platform capitalism, migration governance, and informality to show how digital infrastructures and stratified legal regimes co‐produce new forms of labour exploitation. Migrants respond with informal strategies to navigate the contradictions between denied rights and urgent needs. These practices expose how platform logics of outsourcing and opacity align with state‐driven hierarchies of legal status to corner migrants into the most vulnerable segments of the labour market. The article concludes that the convergence of precarity is not incidental but structurally embedded in the interplay between digitalised labour regimes and exclusionary migration policies, calling for a rethinking of protections that address both technological and legal dimensions of inequality. Keywords: comparative ethnography; digitalisation; exclusion; food delivery; gig economy; irregular migration; migrant integration; migrant workers; migration governance; platform capitalism Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10959 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: What Does Multilingual Research Show Us About Research Ethics? Examples and Challenges From the Field File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10805 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10805 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10805 Author-Name: Sophia Schönthaler Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Migration and Societal Change, Eurac Research, Italy Author-Name: Andrea Leone‐Pizzighella Author-Workplace-Name: Marie Sklodowska‐Curie Fellow, Institute for Applied Linguistics, Eurac Research, Italy Author-Name: Johanna Mitterhofer Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Migration and Societal Change, Eurac Research, Italy Abstract: Ethics review boards (ERBs) often clash with the emergent, iterative, and co‐constructed nature of critical and constructivist research. Conversely, these approaches also challenge ERBs, particularly around the role of language in informed consent, knowledge co‐construction, and dissemination. Multilingual research makes these tensions especially visible by foregrounding how language shapes research processes. This article examines the overlooked ethical dimensions of multilingual research, especially in relation to institutional ethics review. Drawing on our multilingual work with marginalized communities, we show how language mediates critical aspects of research practice: from obtaining consent and navigating gatekeeping to co‐constructing knowledge. We pursue three aims: (a) reflect on how language mediates ethics approval in critical and constructivist inquiry; (b) explore how sensibility toward language fosters epistemic justice, cultural sensitivity, and methodological appropriateness; and (c) raise awareness of the role of language in ethics procedures, research relationships, and definitions of data. We illustrate these aims with fieldwork examples highlighting the challenges of building trust under restrictive ethics protocols; the need for nuanced linguistic practices in contexts of inequality and underrepresentation; and the use of arts‐based methods as an alternative to language‐based approaches. The article concludes with examples from the formation of our multilingual institute’s ERB and recommendations for other boards. Keywords: arts‐based methods; dialogic and oral ethics; discrimination; institutional ethics; Italy; migration; multilingualism; participatory methods; research ethics; Romani; school‐based research Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10805 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: From Babel to Bridge: The Challenges of Research Co‐Production in Multilingual Spaces File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10870 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10870 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10870 Author-Name: Chantal Radley Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, UK Author-Name: Margaret Greenfields Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, UK Author-Name: Eleonore Kofman Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Business and Law, Middlesex University, UK Author-Name: Gill Searl Author-Workplace-Name: Strategic Migration Partnership, Local Government East, UK Abstract: This article discusses emerging findings from a large‐scale study undertaken in 12 diverse areas of England focused on reducing health inequalities for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrant populations. Working with multilingual populations has posed both ethical and practical considerations throughout the design and implementation of this co‐produced participatory research project. Despite our deep‐rooted commitment to working collaboratively with communities of interest and a large team of multilingual academic and community partners who have co‐designed the study, the linguistic complexities of operationalising planned activities have highlighted multiple obstacles. We argue that multilingual research presents significant challenges to researchers and has the potential to jeopardise commitments to inclusivity and co‐production, even for those teams well‐versed in working with refugee and migrant groups. Practical considerations around recruitment in diverse languages, appropriate translations of project documentation, and timely booking of sufficient interpreters repeatedly emerged as challenges, as has gaining informed consent, particularly where literacy and understanding of concepts of research are new to participants. The methodological difficulties involved in achieving linguistic inclusivity are outlined, together with the complexities of interpreting and translating set within a context of negotiating different power relationships between institutions, academic researchers, collaborative partners, community co‐researchers, and participants. Whilst community co‐researchers and organisations create a vital bridge to enable all participants to communicate effectively within an ethical and collaborative space, we interrogate the challenges inherent in such empirical research and propose methodological practices to address these concerns. Keywords: asylum seekers; co‐production; inclusivity; migrants; multilingual; power dynamics; refugees Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10870 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Construction of Researcher Positionality Through Language Practices in Multilingual Contexts File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10844 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10844 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10844 Author-Name: Marie Rickert Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, The Netherlands / iHub, Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Pomme van de Weerd Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Development and Education of Youth in Diverse Societies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Daan Hovens Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Literature and Art, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Leonie Cornips Author-Workplace-Name: NL‐Lab, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Netherlands Abstract: Ethnographers immerse themselves in the lifeworlds of their participants—including their language practices—through participant observation. In this process, researchers’ linguistic repertoires, along with the language choices and practices they enable, play a central role in co‐constructing positionality within emergent interactions. These interactions both shape and are shaped by locally situated meaning‐making, reflecting the dynamics of the research context. This article examines the dynamic construction of positionality in multilingual research contexts. Drawing on four linguistic ethnographies conducted at a metal foundry, a preschool, a secondary school, and dairy farms, the analysis identifies four key dimensions through which researcher positionality is constructed via language practices: attuning to, engaging in, translating, and recognizing participants’ linguistic practices. Multilingual research contexts, we argue, introduce additional layers of complexity to the construction of positionality and call for critical reflection on the language practices of both ethnographers and participants. Keywords: linguistic ethnography; multilingual practices; outsider–insider continuum; researcher positionality Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10844 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Conducting Research Across Three Languages in a Multilingual Space: Polish Immigrants in Alanya File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10786 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10786 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10786 Author-Name: Gizem Karaköse Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Humanities, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland Abstract: In multilingual research, language choices and linguistic hierarchies play a significant role. The participants’ language preferences reveal emotional connection and confidence in their self‐expression. Building on Znaniecki’s (1927) concept of humanistic coefficient, Bourdieu’s (1991) theory of linguistic capital, and Blommaert’s (2010) and Heller’s (2007) understandings of multilingualism as social practice, this article examines how multilingual practices reveal underlying power dynamics and social hierarchies. From an ethical and methodological perspective, it proposes a model that prioritizes participant agency, minimizes biases, and redefines the researcher‐participant dynamic by granting participants the freedom to choose their interview language. Drawing on fieldwork conducted among Polish immigrants in Alanya, Türkiye, the article shows how multilingual practices during interviews expose hierarchies. It also allows code‐switching to function as a resource rather than an obstacle. The study offers a methodological framework for managing multilingual interviews, addressing the ethical and analytical challenges of linguistic hierarchies and code‐switching. It contributes to a broader understanding of social inclusion in migration studies by offering practical insights into developing fair participant‐researcher interactions. I argue that emphasizing participants’ linguistic realities and proposing adaptable strategies for multilingual research contribute to more inclusive and equitable methodologies in migration studies. Keywords: code‐switching; interview; language hierarchies; multilingual research; social inclusion Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10786 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: “I Don’t Want to Underpay People”: Platforms for Childcare and Migrant Mothers Navigating Belonging File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10833 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10833 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10833 Author-Name: Colleen Boland Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Migration Law, Radboud University, The Netherlands Abstract: Feminist scholarship engages with in flux and situational motherhood, childcare, and the boundaries between private and public domains. Decades of knowledge production have signaled undervalued care work and feminized global care chains. Against this backdrop, more recently, digital platforms or social networks connect childcare workers to migrant (and non‐migrant) parents, with new or reconstituted implications for gender inequalities. While the limited research to date on childcare platformization has focused on experiences of domestic workers, there is a noticeable gap regarding parents’ perspectives on engaging this care, especially that of migrant mothers. This article inquires as to why migrant mothers turn to digital platforms in addressing childcare needs, if they are aware of applicable childcare regulation, and if (and how) platforms mediate understandings of regulation and worker or employer definitions. It frames the discussion in terms of belonging linked to normative values of care. To do so, the article first offers background on the Dutch childcare regime. Then, empirical analysis includes a desk review of online childcare platforms, alongside a survey among 30 participants and 9 semi‐structured follow‐up interviews with migrant mothers in the Netherlands. On the one hand, findings indicate little or unclear knowledge of domestic work regulation, further obfuscated by platforms as an intermediary. On the other hand, negotiations of belonging in fluctuating contexts, as well as perceptions of exclusion and high costs of care, serve as the rationale behind turning to childcare platforms. Keywords: belonging; care work; migrant mothers; platformization; social reproduction Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10833 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Translanguaging Towards Equitable Participation: Doing Research Multilingually With People With a Migration Background File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10867 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10867 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10867 Author-Name: Erin Gail MacDonald Author-Workplace-Name: Development and Education of Youth in Diverse Societies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Mirona Moraru Author-Workplace-Name: Development and Education of Youth in Diverse Societies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Arthur Bakker Author-Workplace-Name: Research Centre for Curriculum Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Author-Name: Elma Blom Author-Workplace-Name: Development and Education of Youth in Diverse Societies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Abstract: Doing research with multilingual people belonging to marginalized groups involves reconsidering our methods of inquiry. Language differences between researchers and participants can render the lived experiences, multilingual subjectivities, and knowledge of the participants unrecognized and undervalued. This is amplified in educational settings, where a monolingual norm can be pervasive, delegitimizing other languages that are important for sharing values and knowledge. Based on a codesign study with multilingual caregivers with a migration background, the present article aims to reflect on how translanguaging can be employed as a methodological approach in research processes. Translanguaging is defined here as promoting the use of a person’s entire linguistic repertoire to make meaning and (more equitably) participate in research. We draw on three codesign rounds conducted in the Netherlands involving ten multilingual caregivers. In a reflection based on fieldnotes, artefacts, and pictures collected during participant observation in 22 codesign meetings, we formulate seven heuristics that could be helpful to other researchers or practitioners employing translanguaging in research processes. These are: (a) encouraging and modeling the use of multiple languages; (b) using multilingual resources; (c) using translation apps; (d) using an interpreter; (e) encouraging brokering; (f) encouraging same‐language group pairings; and (g) building in the time necessary to legitimize translanguaging strategies. By sharing our reflections and heuristics, we hope to foster equitable participation of marginalized groups in research, with a specific reference to participants with a migration background. Keywords: multilingual caregivers; participatory research; researching multilingually; translanguaging Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10867 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Halting of Everyday Media Practices in Swedish Detention Centres: A Physical, Social, and Digital Exclusion File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10882 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10882 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10882 Author-Name: Miriana Cascone Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Media and Communication Studies, Södertörn University, Sweden Abstract: In line with previous research, this article starts from the awareness that ubiquity and mobility, central features of migrants’ transnational lives, are sustained by everyday digital media practices. It aims to investigate what happens when these media practices can no longer be carried out due to circumstances beyond the individuals. The research context is the Swedish detention system, which in some cases breaks the migration trajectories and forces individuals to wait for an unwanted return. Detention centres are highly mediatized spaces where the rapid digitalization that characterizes societies is forced to slow down to a standstill for migrants. This situation marks the return of old media forms that become new, such as dumb phones and paper letters. The study is based on face‐to‐face interviews with detained and formerly detained migrants conducted between 2022 and 2024 in Sweden and reported here through the method of ethnographic vignettes. Offline and online practices in detention are explored to understand whether they can still guarantee the social inclusion that digitalization outside had made possible, and that here can be described as a process that follows different speeds and directions depending on the power exercised through it and its aims, leading to a counter movement. I therefore argue that there is a double exclusion, first from the country through the instrument of detention, and thus also expulsion from society understood as sociality, and this through counter‐digitalization. Keywords: detention; digitalization; disconnection; exclusion; migrants Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10882 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Materialising Digital Borderscapes: Examining the Effects of Digital Systems on Asylum Seekers and Refugees File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10871 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10871 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10871 Author-Name: Saskia Greyling Author-Workplace-Name: Institut de géographie, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland Author-Name: Corey R. Johnson Author-Workplace-Name: Environmental and Geographical Science Department, University of Cape Town, South Africa Abstract: Digitalisation is increasingly adopted in the public sector in South Africa. The country’s Department of Home Affairs has a significant digitalisation project that aims to improve its efficiency in service delivery. Despite this project, it was the Covid‐19 pandemic that saw the introduction of a digital interface to manage the bureaucracy of asylum seeker and refugee administration. This article examines the impacts of this asylum seeker and refugee permit extension online system. The article traces how the online system works to refigure how asylum seekers access the state and the possibility of securing documentation. We demonstrate that this online system has effects far greater than simply improved efficiency; instead, it fundamentally refigures the borderscapes navigated by asylum seekers and refugees. Here, digitalisation shifts bureaucratic responsibility to the asylum seekers and refugees, and in so doing, distances them from the state. We show this by paying attention to how the online system changes the materialities of asylum seeking; the spaces in which protection is sought; as well as the practices thereof, where actors other than the state are called on for assistance. In the world of technological interventions, this online system for permit renewal is a seemingly mundane example of digitalisation; yet its effects on the possibilities for social, legal, and even economic inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees are significant. Keywords: borderscapes; bureaucracy; digital mundane; digitalisation; migration; South Africa Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10871 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Between Supportive and Involved Fatherhood in Slovenia File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10859 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10859 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10859 Author-Name: Alenka Švab Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Author-Name: Živa Humer Author-Workplace-Name: The Peace Institute, Slovenia Abstract: The article draws on four qualitative studies of fatherhood in Slovenia performed over 15 years (2005, 2008, 2015, and 2020) to analyse factors shaping the involvement of fathers in child‐rearing through a diachronic perspective, situating the empirical findings within broader socioeconomic and policy transformations. The period under study included several ambivalent developments. On one hand, the intensification of work, flexibilisation, and precarious employment added to the primacy of paid work and men’s caregiving roles being given limited recognition in organisational cultures. On the other hand, family policy measures— notably the introduction of paternity leave, parental leave reforms, along with other work–life balance reforms—gradually supported fathers taking on greater roles as parents. The findings reveal that by 2005, the traditional model of uninvolved fatherhood was already in decline, giving way to new practices in the form of supportive fatherhood. Although men did participate in childcare and domestic work, their roles were chiefly to assist their female partners. Over time, practices of involved fatherhood also emerged, characterised by more active and egalitarian caregiving. Despite strong aspirations for active participation, empirical evidence shows a persistent gap between ideals and practices. Nevertheless, in Slovenia, fathers are now typically present during pregnancy and childbirth, make use of paternity leave, and engage ever more in everyday childcare, signalling a gradual shift toward the involved fatherhood model. Keywords: caregiving; domestic labour; family policy; involved fatherhood; labour market; parental leave; Slovenia; supportive fatherhood Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10859 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Digital Inclusion of Migrants in Türkiye: Emotional, Linguistic, and Structural Barriers File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10852 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10852 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10852 Author-Name: Bilge Hamarat Yalçın Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations, Kocaeli University, Türkiye Author-Name: Çağlar Akar Author-Workplace-Name: Vocational School, Istanbul Okan University, Türkiye Abstract: This study uses a bibliometric review of international research and 27 in‐depth interviews to investigate digital disparities among migrant groups in Türkiye. We aim to understand how gender, as well as emotional, linguistic, and structural factors influence digital inclusion. The interviews demonstrate how these problems manifest across Türkiye’s varied migrant communities, while the bibliometric analysis identifies global themes such as digital literacy, access, trust, and language barriers. The primary obstacles, which are frequently exacerbated by gender and legal status, are monolingual e‐government platforms, low digital trust, and reliance on family for online access. The results show that social and emotional aspects of digital inclusion are involved, requiring institutions to be sensitive, build trust, and ensure linguistic accessibility. The study integrates infrastructure with lived experience‐based policies, proposing culturally sensitive, linguistically inclusive, and emotionally sensitive strategies. For other areas with sizable migrant populations, this strategy offers a scalable model. Keywords: digital inclusion; digital trust and safety; language barriers; migrants and refugees in Türkiye Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10852 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Digital Tactics of Refugee Women: Towards an Inclusive Framework for Digital Literacies File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10866 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10866 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10866 Author-Name: Amber I Bartlett Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Noemi Mena Montes Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Lieke Verheijen Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Koen Leurs Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Mirjam Broersma Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, The Netherlands Abstract: This article examines the complex relationship between online and offline inequalities for shaping refugee women’s experiences during resettlement. Refugee women have unique challenges during resettlement, yet the role of gender in shaping refugees’ experiences of inclusion, exclusion, and associated risks is often overlooked. Research into the role of digital technologies in refugees’ resettlement is fragmented, spread across disciplines, and therefore lacks analytical focus. Motivated by a research field that is fragmented and lacks a gender analysis, we conducted a scoping review to (a) consolidate studies across disciplines on refugee women’s digital practices during resettlement and (b) propose tactics as an analytical approach to the study of the relationship between online and offline inequalities. Through the analytical framework of tactics, we review three thematic areas of the outcomes of digital technology use for refugees: social connectedness, access to information, and self‐presentation. We find that outcomes of refugee women’s ICT use are heavily shaped by gendered norms, expectations, and structural exclusion, and there is a strong need for a better understanding of the role of digital technologies in the lives of refugee women. This study has also demonstrated the use of tactics as an important analytical tool in pluralising understandings of digital literacies as a practice, and that tactics have a strong gendered component. Using tactics as an analytic tool illuminated that, while offline inequalities can inform outcomes of digital technology use, the same inequalities can shape the reappropriation of digital platforms to mitigate the risk of the practices, while gaining access to the outcomes. This study demonstrates that tactics offer a valuable conceptual framework to foreground refugee women’s situated agency in digitally mediated contexts. Keywords: diaspora; digital inclusion; digital literacy; digital migration; ICT; refugee women; resettlement; tactics Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10866 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Digital Technologies and Refugees’ Social Inclusion: The Use of ICTs by NGOs File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10942 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10942 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10942 Author-Name: Giacomo Solano Author-Workplace-Name: Radboud University Network on Migrant Inclusion (RUNOMI), Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Iris Poelen Author-Workplace-Name: Radboud University Network on Migrant Inclusion (RUNOMI), Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Safiya Farokh Author-Workplace-Name: Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Sheila Omosomwan Author-Workplace-Name: Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University, The Netherlands Abstract: Numerous studies highlight the direct impact of digital technologies on migrants, shaping their decisions to migrate, their migration trajectories, and their experiences in their destination countries. This article contributes to this emerging literature by exploring the influence of digital technologies on the inclusion of migrants, specifically by examining how non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support refugees—an area that has received limited attention in the existing literature. In particular, the article focuses on NGOs in Türkiye and the Netherlands. We conducted interviews with representatives of 23 NGOs across the two countries to understand how and why they use digital technologies. The findings show that NGOs in both countries use ICTs extensively for (direct and indirect) communication, advocacy, and service provision, with clear benefits but also challenges. ICTs enhance visibility and reach, support multilingual and remote service delivery, and help NGOs raise funds and build an institutional identity. Challenges include unequal access to digital tools and insufficient digital literacy by both NGO staff and their clients, lower engagement in online formats, and the risk of losing personal connection due to standardized digital processes. Keywords: digital technologies; ICTs; NGOs; refugees; social inclusion; The Netherlands; Türkiye Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10942 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Between Supportive and Equal Parenting: Exploring Middle‐Class Fathering in Romania Today File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/10874 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.10874 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 10874 Author-Name: Anca Dohotariu Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest, Romania Author-Name: Réka Geambasu Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Babeș‐Bolyai University, Cluj‐Napoca, Romania / ELTE CERS Budapest, Hungary Author-Name: Cristina Raț Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Babeș‐Bolyai University, Cluj‐Napoca, Romania Abstract: The profound restructuring that Romania underwent in the last decades of post‐socialist transformations and EU accession and membership has brought along changes in family life, including fathers’ involvement in parental responsibilities. Today, family arrangements incorporate gender equality values but also opposition to them, alongside an uneven revival of certain conservative norms. Drawing upon a relational approach that analyses the interplay between parental care as a process and gender equality, our research aims to capture the performative, “alive,” and constantly transforming features of fathering. We focus on the experiences of middle‐class fathers with preschool‐age children and their narratives about parental care for infants, balancing ideals of “involved fatherhood” with the everyday actions of involved fathering. To this end, we conducted 41 in‐depth qualitative interviews with highly educated, cisgender, and ethnically diverse urbanite fathers who raise their children together with their partners. Our findings confirm that middle‐class fathers’ involvement is shaped by employment and workplace arrangements, as well as by mothers’ attitudes and the concrete needs of the infant. By looking at fathering as performative, i.e., at “doing” fathering, we could see it as constantly shifting along a continuum of noninvolvement–involvement–disinvolvement–reinvolvement. However, our inquiry highlights that “involved fathering” does not necessarily overlap with “equal parenting.” Overall, we identified a pattern in fathers’ narratives that portrays them as “supportive,” as protecting the mother‐child bond, at least during the first months of the infants’ lives. When this occurs, conjugal partners become solely parents with asymmetric parental responsibilities. Keywords: child care; class; family; gender equality; involved fathering; parental responsibilities; Romania Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10874 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Language Policy as a Channel of Inclusion for Researchers in the Internationalized University File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/9833 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.9833 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 9833 Author-Name: Anna Björnö Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Education, Tampere University, Finland Abstract: Internationalization has increased diversity in Finnish universities, yet the meaningful inclusion of international faculty remains challenging. This study examines how institutional language policies shape the professional integration of international researchers, highlighting tensions between national language protection and internationalization rationales. Through interviews and document analysis, the findings reveal structural barriers limiting participation, including unclear expectations, inadequate support, and the perceived low professional value of national languages. The study critiques a narrow approach to diversity, arguing for comprehensive support systems—like peer networks and workplace‐based language opportunities—and policy reform that fosters genuine inclusion. Framing language policy as a negotiated space shaped by habitus, community, and power, the study calls for institutional changes prioritizing collaboration and engagement with linguistic diversity. Keywords: English lingua franca; inclusion; international scholars; internationalization; language policy; national language Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:9833 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Views of Women Doctoral Students and Dropouts on Doctoral Education in Türkiye File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/9828 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.9828 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 9828 Author-Name: Emine Karaduman-Oskay Author-Workplace-Name: Educational Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Türkiye Author-Name: Gülistan Gürsel-Bilgin Author-Workplace-Name: Educational Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Türkiye / Curriculum and Instruction Department, Indiana University Bloomington, USA Author-Name: Havva Ayşe Caner Author-Workplace-Name: Educational Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Türkiye Author-Name: Mine Afacan Fındıklı Author-Workplace-Name: Business Administration Department, Istinye University, Türkiye / UBI Business School, Belgium Author-Name: Fatma Nevra Seggie Author-Workplace-Name: Educational Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Türkiye Abstract: Countries must adapt their higher education systems to address the demands of 21st‐century knowledge societies. Türkiye, a developing country (OECD, 2025), ranks 48th in the Human Development Index (UNDP, 2022). Despite improvements, gender inequality remains a significant issue in Türkiye, with women often dropping out of educational programs due to household and caregiving responsibilities (Conger & Long, 2010; Gür & Bozgöz, 2022; Quinn, 2013). This study explores the experiences and challenges of women in doctoral education, highlighting their roles as change agents in higher education. It presents the views of ten current women doctoral students and ten dropouts from various programs of public universities in Türkiye. The study’s qualitative research captures diverse perspectives by including voluntary participants who were single, married, or divorced; with or without children; and employed outside academia. Data collected from in‐depth semi‐structured interviews were thematically analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the participants’ experiences and perceptions. Two themes were identified through IPA: (a) challenges, which include the imposition of traditional roles, financial constraints, and unconstructive relationships with faculty members or advisors, and (b) the need for constructive relationships, defined by support from faculty, advisors, and peers. Suggestions for support mechanisms are also discussed. Keywords: doctoral student agency; gender gap; higher education transformation; inclusive doctoral education Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:9828 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Early Career Researchers as Stakeholders in University Decision‐Making in Europe: Comparative Perspectives File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/9683 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.9683 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 9683 Author-Name: Liudvika Leišytė Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Higher Education, TU Dortmund University, Germany Author-Name: Ivana Načinović Braje Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Shulamit Almog Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, University of Haifa, Israel Author-Name: Sultan Baysan Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Studies Education, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Türkiye Author-Name: Teresa Carvalho Author-Workplace-Name: University of Aveiro, Portugal / CIPES, Portugal Author-Name: Dovilė Daunoraitė Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Lithuania Author-Name: Sara Diogo Author-Workplace-Name: University of Aveiro, Portugal / CIPES, Portugal Author-Name: Panourgias Papaioannou Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Higher Education, TU Dortmund University, Germany Author-Name: Anna Farmaki Author-Workplace-Name: Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus Author-Name: Shlomit Feldman Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, University of Haifa, Israel Author-Name: Rakibe Külcür Author-Workplace-Name: University College London, UK Author-Name: Inga Matijošytė Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Lithuania Author-Name: Sandra Pralgauskaitė Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Vilnius University, Lithuania Author-Name: Vanya Rangelova Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Epidemiology and Disaster Medicine, Medical University Plovdiv, Bulgaria Author-Name: Dalia Šatkovskienė Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Vilnius University, Lithuania Abstract: The voices of academics have traditionally been strong in university decision‐making bodies, where they participated in the shared governance of the university. It has been customary for senior academics to be represented in managing bodies and to exercise control over the key areas of strategy, finance, quality assurance, study programs, and/or human resources. With the new public management reforms that have swept through higher education (HE) systems, the power of academics has been reduced, while managerial guidance has increased, alongside the fostering of universities’ institutional autonomy. At the same time, the power of other stakeholders, such as students or industry representatives, has also been increasing as part and parcel of the governance reforms, albeit to different degrees and at different paces across various HE systems. In this context, this article seeks to examine the role that early career researchers (ECRs) play in university decision‐making bodies across different countries as internal stakeholders. The research is based on seven case studies from seven European and East Mediterranean countries drawing on documentary data and 55 semi‐structured interviews with ECRs and 14 managers, carried out in 2023–2024. Following stakeholder categories distinguished on the basis of their legitimacy, urgency, and power, this article investigates the extent to which ECRs perceive their voices to be heard. The findings show variance between the case studies regarding formal representation, with most universities in the study having limited representation of ECRs in university and faculty/school‐level decision‐making bodies. The voices of ECRs, however, are heard in informal ways. Keywords: decision‐making; early career researchers; power; representation; stakeholders; university governance; university; voice Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:9683 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Embracing Paradox Realities: Racially Minoritised Women and Gender‐Based Violence in Higher Education File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/9825 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.9825 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 9825 Author-Name: Anke Lipinsky Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Data and Research on Society, GESIS‐Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany Author-Name: Bruna Cristina Jaquetto Pereira Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain Author-Name: Vilana Pilinkaitė Sotirovič Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Sociology, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Lithuania Abstract: Although universities often adopt diversity and inclusion policies, the everyday experience of employees indicates multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination. This article discusses how institutional norms and practices reinforce power structures and stop those experiencing intersectional discrimination from voicing their experiences of gender‐based violence in higher education. We employ the frameworks of “everyday racism” and “network silence” to analyse 12 interviews with racially minoritised women who experienced gender‐based violence in academia and one bystander. Our findings challenge the assumption of universities that gender‐based violence and racial discrimination are marginal concerns. The interviews point to institutional factors that generate, coerce, and support silence. They reveal a paradox combination of dynamics of hypervisibility and invisibility, structural barriers, institutional practices, discriminatory attitudes, stereotypes, and prejudices as factors contributing to silencing, othering, and marginalisation within academia. Women from ethnic minorities and marginalised groups demonstrate both self‐silencing and the deprivation of their agency and voice due to cultural normative expectations. We conclude by exploring alternatives to promote transformational change that considers intersectional and multiple forms of discrimination. We suggest what change agents in higher education institutions can do to hear unheard voices and reduce the long‐standing multiple disadvantages faced by intersectionally marginalised groups. Keywords: diversity; everyday racism; gender‐based violence; higher education; intersectionality; silence; transformational change Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:9825 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Intersectionality at German Universities: Empowering Teaching Staff as Change Agents With Higher Education Didactic Workshops File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/9829 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.9829 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 9829 Author-Name: Julia Mergner Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Higher Education, TU Dortmund University, Germany Author-Name: Sude Pekşen Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Higher Education, TU Dortmund University, Germany Author-Name: Liudvika Leišytė Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Higher Education, TU Dortmund University, Germany Abstract: The increasing diversity at German universities has been accompanied by the demand to widen participation among all groups of students. This challenges higher education teaching, requiring learning environments that acknowledge diverse experiences and needs. While diversity‐sensitive approaches have been the dominant response, they often address single diversity dimensions in isolation, neglecting intersectional interdependencies and structural power relations. An intersectional perspective, however, shifts the focus to power dynamics, knowledge production, and inclusive educational practices. This article argues that such an approach has a good potential to enable lecturers and students to become change agents by fostering critical thinking, reflective agency, and ethical commitment to dismantling systemic inequalities. This is particularly challenging in the German higher education system, where critical, antidiscriminatory pedagogical perspectives are mostly limited to certain disciplines. At the same time, the teaching staff enjoy extensive teaching autonomy, which provides them with freedom for individual engagement in this area. Therefore, implementing intersectional approaches in teaching requires targeted educational interventions that support teaching staff. Building on the concept of intersectional pedagogy, we introduce a case study of a higher education didactic workshop that was designed to raise awareness of intersectional perspectives in teaching. The findings highlight the potential of such workshops to influence teaching practices and promote the engagement of disciplinary teaching communities with intersectionality. This article concludes by discussing the implications for further developing workshop concepts and empowering teaching staff and students as agents of change within the German higher education system. Keywords: change agents; German higher education; intersectionality; teaching students; university didactics Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:9829 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Achieving Inclusion: University Staff Working in Third Space Between Academic and Professional Spheres of Activity File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/9596 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/si.9596 Journal: Social Inclusion Volume: 14 Year: 2026 Number: 9596 Author-Name: Celia Whitchurch Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Education, University College London, UK Abstract: The article reflects on the case of staff employed on academic and professional contracts in UK universities who work in areas of activity that are not aligned precisely to either domain, sometimes referred to as “third space.” Examples are given of academic staff on teaching‐only contracts and people employed on professional contracts in educational and research development roles. Although such individuals are likely to be highly qualified, with a master’s or doctoral qualification, teach and, in some cases, undertake research, they occupy territory in the university that often lacks formal recognition. This is particularly so in relation to the legitimacy of their roles and parity with academic colleagues who undertake mainstream teaching and research and contribute to the UK Research Excellence Framework. Despite increasing commentary on the existence of these roles by practitioners themselves, institutions have been slow to accord them legitimacy in terms of, for example, dedicated space in institutional structures, appropriate professional development opportunities, career paths, or promotion and assessment criteria. Such individuals are therefore liable to feel excluded from the mainstream, even though they may be making a significant contribution to academic endeavours. Examples are offered of the extent to which individuals are able to achieve recognition at both a personal and collective level, and suggestions are made as to practical ways in which universities might accord this group of staff greater visibility, and thereby reduce the cultural, and implicitly hierarchical, divide between them and academic colleagues with an extended teaching and research profile. Keywords: academic careers; academic staff; educational development; higher education; professional staff; professional careers; research management; third space; UK; work in academia Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:9596