We are looking for a researcher to work on a project on cultural diversities in youth care. In this project, we study how cultural diversities can be taken into account by youth care professionals. We are particularly interested in knowing more about differences between clients (and their parents/family) and professionals from different cultural backgrounds in their perceptions of mental health problems and disabilities, help-seeking behaviour, expectations of the division of responsibilities between parents and professionals, and expectations of the outcomes of treatment and care.

You will primarily focus on acquiring and analysing interview data by interviewing parents or caregivers and youth of Syrian, Moroccan-Dutch or Turkish-Dutch background about their culturally informed expectations of, and their experiences with, the Dutch youth care system. In your analysis, you will compare your findings with the findings of other team members on the perspectives of (Dutch) professionals on culturally sensitive care. In addition, you will co-author one or two academic publications and a research proposal to continue your research as a PhD candidate.

- an excellent command of written and spoken English;
- an excellent command of Syrian-Arabic, Moroccan-Arabic and/or Turkish and intimate knowledge of the Syrian, Moroccan or Turkish culture;

Ideally you have:

- a Master’s degree (preferably in anthropology, gender and diversity studies, psychology or pedagogy) at a level that is similar to that of Dutch universities;
- experience with qualitative research, particularly with interviews and focus groups (analysis);
- good skills in planning, taking initiatives, academic writing and working in a team;
- the ambition and ability to write/co-write PhD proposals and finish a PhD thesis in four years.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

- you will initially be classified as a Research Officer (Onderwijs- en onderzoeksmedewerker 4) in the Dutch university job-ranking system (UFO). If the evaluation of your performance is positive you may subsequently be appointed as a PhD candidate for a period of 3 years;
Depending on the funding you may subsequently be appointed as a PhD candidate for a period of 3 years.

Radboud University

Strategically located in Europe, Radboud University is one of the leading academic communities in the Netherlands. A place with a personal touch, where top-flight education and research take place on a beautiful green campus in modern buildings with state-of-art facilities.

Faculty of Social Sciences

You will be part of the chair group Gender & Diversity of Radboud Social and Cultural Research, headed by Prof. Marieke van den Brink. We are an enthusiastic, multidisciplinary team. This project is part of a collaboration with Pedagogical Sciences, specifically the international master specialisation ‘Diversities in Care’ coordinated by Dr Els Rommes.

The chair group Gender & Diversity is part of Radboud Social and Cultural Research in which also the disciplines of sociology, anthropology and development studies cooperate. RSCR’s mission statement highlights three research themes: inequality, cohesion and modernisation.

No commercial propositions please.