Grade retention touches upon a tension field between the need for schools to promote cohesion and the need to differentiate students based on their abilities. This tension field may induce frustration among retainees. Following the frustration-aggression hypothesis, frustration might lead retainees to scapegoat minorities and to have diminished levels of intergroup tolerance compared to regularly promoted peers. Furthermore, based on comparative reference group theory, retention composition might moderate the association between being retained and intergroup tolerance. Cross-national multilevel analyses were performed on PISA 2018 data (17 countries; 6,010 schools; 122,246 students). Findings show that retainees have lower levels of intergroup tolerance, and this negative association is larger in countries with fewer other retainees. Implications are discussed.

Across the world, numerous students are being bullied at school. Bullying is often caused by a power imbalance between students. Therefore, identifying potential sources of such a power imbalance can prevent school bullying from happening. Based on the labelling theory, we expect that grade retention can lead to such a power imbalance and, therefore, increase the likelihood of being bullied at school. Hence, this study examines the association between grade retention and self-reported victimisation. We also expect that retainees will be less likely to become a victim of school bullying in schools and countries with a high number of other retainees. If true, this would signal a moderating effect of both school- and country retention composition on the association between grade retention and victimisation. The contextualised impact of grade retention upon victimisation is assessed by cross-national multilevel analyses on PISA2018 data (25 countries; 8,039 schools; 159,412 students). Overall, our findings indicate that being retained in primary and/or secondary education is associated with higher levels of victimisation, while retainees suffer from more victimisation in countries with a low number of other retainees. In contrast to our expectations, however, we did not find such a moderation effect of school retention composition.

Grade retention is often perceived as an academic failure and a negative response from the educational system. Hence, based on the social cognitive theory, being retained might decrease self-efficacy. This way, we expect that retainees are less likely to pursue a degree in higher education. Retainees that do enroll in higher education, are expected to opt for a college of applied sciences instead of university. We assume that self-efficacy mediates the association between grade retention and post-secondary schooling choices of retained students. In addition, based on comparative reference group taking, we expect the impact of being retained to be more detrimental in schools with a low percentage of retainees. If true, this would signal a school retention composition effect. Longitudinal, multilevel analyses were carried out on the International Study of City Youth (ISCY) dataset (1252 respondents, 30 schools in Ghent, Flanders). Results show that being retained significantly decreases the likelihood of higher education enrollment, while those students who do enroll, are less likely to opt for university. There was a mediation effect of self-efficacy with regard to program choice, but not for higher education enrollment. We did not find a moderation effect of school retention composition. Implications are discussed.

Having a low sense of belonging in secondary education is associated with feelings of social alienation, lower school performance, and dropping out early. Based on person-environment fit theory, we expect retained students to experience a misfit with their academic environment. This experience could intensify when there are fewer other retained students around. The contextual impact of grade retention on sense of belonging is assessed by cross-national multilevel analyses on PISA 2015 data (25 countries; 7,979 schools; 194,195 students). Overall, results suggest retained students have a significantly lower sense of belonging. The negative association between grade retention and sense of belonging increases in schools and countries with a low number of retained students. This indicates that in schools and countries with a low retention composition, retained students suffer from a lower sense of belonging, because of both their status as a retained student and the absence of other retained students. Implications are discussed.

Most grade retention research focuses on cognitive learning effects, while research into non-cognitive outcomes, such as academic self-concept, is scarcer and remains largely inconclusive. Therefore, our objectives are to investigate if there is an association between academic self-concept and grade retention, if this association is mediated by sense of belonging and if the retention composition influences academic self-concept in both a direct and indirect way. We aim to contextualize retention research by using the reference group theory (RGT). Multilevel analyses were performed on data from the first wave of the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered in Ghent (Belgium). The sample consisted out of 2354 students (56.5% female) in 30 schools, most of whom were born in a West European country (91.46%). Following the comparative reference group theory (CRGT), we expected that retainees make an assessment of the prevalence of grade retention among their peer group and adjust their interpretation of the event accordingly: the more people repeat a grade, the less a stigma it becomes for the retainees, which should result in a higher academic self-concept. On the other hand, we also expected that, based upon the normative reference group theory (NRGT), schools with a high retention composition would have a lower academic self-concept, since the norms of retainees are more likely to be reproduced by all students. Results showed that academic self-concept is negatively related to grade retention. This, however, stems from a mediation effect of sense of belonging. Grade retention is associated with a lower sense of belonging, which, on its turn, associates with a lower academic self-concept. Results further showed that there is no significant interaction effect of retention composition, so we were not able to confirm the CRGT. There was, however, a direct negative effect of retention composition upon academic self-concept, which supports the NRGT. In summary, we can conclude that academic self-concept is negatively related to school composition in a direct way and negatively related to individual grade retention in an indirect way.

This study aims to examine (a) whether there are differences in general practitioners’ (GPs) attitudes towards native Belgian patients, patients of foreign descent and asylum seeking patients who all express symptoms of major depression, and (b) whether these differences depend on GPs’ experience with cultural competency training and interethnic contact. Using a video vignette study among 404 Flemish (Belgium) GPs, we find evidence of a provider bias. While GPs regard a patient of foreign descent as less trustworthy and less able to adhere to medical recommendations than a native Belgian patient, they also hold more pessimistic views on a potential recovery of an asylum seeking patient. In addition, we find that cultural competency training might alter GPs’ attitudes of asylum seeking patients in a positive way. Summarized, our research highlights the need to target stereotypes among GPs for interventions designed to reduce migration-based disparities in healthcare use and health status.

Although the prevalence of common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, is higher among people with a migration background, these groups are generally underrepresented in all forms of institutionalized mental health care. At the root of this striking discrepancy might be unequal referral by health care practitioners. In this article we describe the development of a quasi-experimental video vignette methodology to assess potential forms of unequal diagnosing, treatment and referral patterns, based on clients' migration background and asylum status. The presented methodology also allows to explore whether potential differences are related to provider bias, i.e. underlying attitudes and expectations held by general practitioners. Potential assets and drawbacks of this methodology are discussed in detail.