The defence is held both on location and online via MS Teams. If you participate online, you will receive a link before the defence.

Please note mandatory registration and that you must register no later than 20 September 2024 at 12.00. 

Thesis summary

With growing numbers of immigrants and their children settling in Western European countries, understanding how immigrant integration unfolds becomes increasingly vital. This dissertation explores a critical but often overlooked aspect of immigrant integration: the participation of immigrants and their children in Western European associational life.

The dissertation is composed of three research papers that each—using quantitative methods—investigate key elements of immigrants and their children’s integration into associational life, including (i) the pace at which different immigrant groups reach parity with natives in their levels of volunteering for associations, (ii) the influence of cultural legacies on gender gaps in association participation among children of immigrants, and (iii) the extent to which participation in associations strengthen social relations between ethnic majority and minority groups.

The dissertation uncovers significant disparities in how quickly different immigrant groups integrate into associational life. While some immigrant groups quickly reach parity with natives’ levels of association participation, others do not. Among children of immigrants, empirical findings show that low rates of association participation among girls are strongly related to traditional gender values from their parents’ origin countries, indicating the persistence of cultural legacies for shaping gender-specific integration into associational life. Additionally, while participating in associations can create opportunities for people from different ethnic backgrounds to meet, it does not necessarily lead to friendship building across ethnic lines.

The dissertation offers new, empirically informed knowledge about the (lack of) immigrant integration into associational life in Western Europe.

Assessment committee

• Professor Christian Albrekt Larsen, Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University (Chair)
• Dr Ozan Aksoy, Social Research Institute, University College London (UCL)
• Professor Beate Völker, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement

Moderator

• Professor Lars Skov Henriksen, Head of the PhD Programme Sociology og Social Work, Aalborg University

Supervisor

• Associate professor Hans-Peter Y. Qvist, Aalborg University

Co-supervisor

• Professor Lars Skov Henriksen, Aalborg University

Contact

If you have questions regarding the PhD defence, you are welcome to contact the PhD secretariat at the Department of Sociology and Social Work.

Light refreshments will be served in Kroghstræde 7 after the defence.