Professor of Migration History and LDE Centre GMD member Marlou Schrover working on diversity research

Marlou SchroverDilemmas of diversity (DIDI): diversity policies and practices in Dutch towns in the past, present, and future

Prof.dr. Marlou Schrover at Leiden University is working on diversity research taking an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach to answer the questions:

  • how, when, for whom, and why diversity policies were introduced?
  • who played which role in how they were implemented?
  • how did residents and target audiences respond?

This research seeks to understand how actors (policy implementers, organizations) ‘do’ diversity in practice in the past and in the present by examining where diversity is being done by practitioners and organizations (including those of organized residents, like neighbourhood organizations). Exploring the responses to diversity dilemmas is essential for creating evidence-based policies and approaches that will enable Dutch society to respond rapidly to similar challenges in the future.

In this line of research, Prof.dr. Schrover is working on a NWA research proposal called ‘Dilemmas of diversity (DIDI): diversity policies and practices in Dutch towns in the past, present, and future’ which is supported by a consortium with 7 co-applicants, 15 co-funding partners, 7 cooperation partners and 2 international cooperation partners.

We are excited about this innovative and socially-relevant research and we hope to see the future development of this research theme across our three universities!