Seven tips for academic job applications from a selection committee regular

Over the years I’ve been part of a dozen selection committees for research assistant, PhD, and postdoc positions in the social sciences in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. Many of the applications we received made for agonising reading. While they have given me some good anecdotes to tell at dinner parties, I’m happy that the IMISCOE PhD blog is offering me the opportunity to turn my experience into what I hope will be useful tips for future applicants

The settlement country and ethnic identification of children of Turkish immigrants in Germany, France, and the Netherlands: what role do national integration policies play?’

Germany, France, and the Netherlands have pursued different types of integration policies. Using data from a mixed method study, this paper investigates whether and how these differences have affected the settlement country and ethnic identification of the children of Turkish immigrants. The results indicate that integration policies do not affect ethnic identification, but an inclusive policy has a positive impact on settlement country identification. Multicultural policies do not seem to have any effect. Despite processes of exclusion and self-exclusion in all three countries, our respondents have developed a strong connection to their settlement country and in particular to their place of residence. © 2011 by the Center for Migration Studies of New York

Fixed-Term Work Contracts and Anti-Immigration Attitudes:A Novel Test of Ethnic Competition Theory

Whether labor market competition is shaping anti-immigration attitudes is a contentious issue. We conduct a novel test of ethnic competition theory by comparing the attitudes towards immigration of workers with fixed-term contracts to those with permanent jobs in Europe. Fixed-term contract workers are particularly at risk of competition as they have to compete for jobs in the foreseeable future. In the first step of our investigation, we analyze cross-sectional data (ESS, 2002–18) from 18 Western European countries. We find that—contrary to our expectation—fixed-term workers are less anti-immigration. The effect is substantively small. In the second step, we use a fixed-effects design with longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP, 1999–2015) to rule out time-constant unobserved heterogeneity. We find that transitioning from a fixed- to a permanent contract does not affect anti-immigration attitudes. Our combined results thus add to the growing body of studies that do not find evidence for labor market competition as an explanation of anti-immigrant attitudes