Gender and ethnic diversity at school: A quantitative study of gender differences in the relationship between ethnic diversity and Interethnic friendship

So far, research on interethnic friendship at school has primarily focused on ethnic diversity as the main determinant of interethnic contact. Despite the fact that girls and boys react differently to ethnic diversity, there has been little research that focuses on gender in the study of interethnic friendship. Therefore, this article looks at gender differences in the relationship between ethnic diversity at school and interethnic friendship. Quantitative analysis were conducted on data of 11 872 students of 13 to 20 years old, collected in 2004-2005 for the Flemish Educational Project. The influence of an interaction effect of gender and ethnic diversity on interethnic friendship was tested through a multilevel analyses. Results show that, against theoretical expectations, there are no differences in the number of interethnic friendships between boys and girls, and gender does not alter the relationship between ethnic diversity and interethnic friendship. Implications for future educational research and policy are discussed.