Based on a study among higher-educated adult children of lower-class Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands, this open access book explores processes of identification among social climbers with ethnic minority backgrounds. Using both survey data and open interviews with these ‘minority climbers’, the study details the contextual and temporal nature of identification. The results illustrate how ethnicity is contextual but have tangible and inescapable effects at the same time. Also the findings call for a more reflexive use of terms like ethnic ingroup/outgroup and bonding/bridging. Overall, the book helps us understand the emergence of middle-class segments that articulate their minority identities and as such it will be of great interest to academics, policy makers and all those interested in processes of integration and/or diversity.

In the context of increasingly ‘culturalised’ discourses on immigrant integration in Europe, this article aims to contribute to a de-essentialised understanding of ethnic and religious identity. Based on the analysis of quantitative data, it reveals the multifarious relationship between identification and culture among second-generation Turkish and Moroccan Dutch in the Netherlands. Some instances of self-identification with nominal labels (‘Turkish’ and ‘Muslim’) appear to go hand in hand with stronger sociocultural orientations in daily life and are more substantive; others (‘Moroccan’) do not. These findings point to different social mechanisms at work in shaping identifications with certain identity labels and once more illustrate that ethnic and religious identifications do not necessarily reflect cultural ‘otherness’.

Creating truly equitable education is a challenge. Equity, diversity, and inclusion endeavours are often characterized by a depreciative deficit-thinking and a problem-based view on diversity. In this article, we present the MIXED model (Multi-perspective Inclusive eXchanges for Equity and Diversity), which can support lecturers in establishing an inclusive learning environment by building on different perspectives and talents in the (college) classroom. The model offers both inspiration and practical guidance as it describes a vision, strategies, and examples of learning activities for various classroom settings (online/offline, larger/smaller). We also describe the theoretical framework and the process of development and implementation. The MIXED model, developed at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, unpacks three phases in classroom dynamics. Feedback from lecturers indicates utilizing the model can lead to a more equitable learning environment. This approach aims to educate future academics and professionals who are capable of building on the different perspectives in diverse settings when resolving complex societal problems.

The increasing discomfort with ethnic diversity in many countries is paralleled by the emergence of middle classes consisting of second-generation immigrants who articulate their minority identities. This calls for an enhanced understanding of the experiences and identifications of social climbers with minority backgrounds. In this article, I explore the relevance of the idea of a “minority culture of mobility” (MCM) as a lens to look at these processes of integration, using the case of Dutch student organizations with ethnic-minority signatures. Based on parallels with the literature, I conclude that the MCM is a useful framework, also for contexts outside the United States. At the same time, observed variations between ethnic groups and changes over time within the Dutch context lay down a research agenda in order to further refine the model.