The Relationship Between Religiosity and Gender Attitudes Among Ethnic Minority Youth: Does Contact with Ethnic Majority Peers in School Class Matter?

Against the backdrop of the classical assumption that ethnic minorities will adopt more egalitarian gender attitudes by becoming less religious, scholars emphasise that remaining religious but becoming more egalitarian is a potential alternative for minorities with integration into more egalitarian societies. Accordingly, the relationship between religiosity and gender attitudes can be disconnected. This appears relevant given that religion is highlighted as being important for minority identities. Since little is known about this relationship between religiosity and gender attitudes in minority adolescents when they interact with majority peers in schools, this study investigates the nexus between religiosity and contact with ethnic majority peers in school classes on gender attitudes among ethnic minority youth in Western Europe by using the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) data. The analyses show that religiosity is associated with less egalitarian attitudes, whereby the direct effect of contact with ethnic majority peers is less significant. However, the association between religiosity and less egalitarian attitudes is weaker with more contact with majority peers. Tentatively, the results suggest that there are group differences. The findings indicate that the relationship between religiosity and gender attitudes among ethnic minority youth could potentially disconnect with more contact with majority peers in school.