Ukrainian Women’s Sense of Belonging to The Netherlands: The Role of Language and Employment

Canora Flores, Lucía (2025) Ukrainian Women’s Sense of Belonging to The Netherlands: The Role of Language and Employment. Master thesis, Psychology.

Text MasterThesisLuca-Canora-Flores.pdf Restricted to Repository staff only Download (1MB)

A thesis is an aptitude test for students. The approval of the thesis is proof that the student has sufficient research and reporting skills to graduate but does not guarantee the quality of the research and the results of the research as such, and the thesis is therefore not necessarily suitable to be used as an academic source to refer to. If you would like to know more about the research discussed in this thesis and any publications based on it, to which you could refer, please contact the supervisor mentioned.

Abstract

In February 2022, the Russian military force invaded Ukraine, forcing millions of Ukrainians to fly to other countries within Europe, such as The Netherlands. Even though these immigrants have a special refugee status, they still struggle with everyday challenges to a successful integration. Therefore, this study focused on the psychological integration of Ukrainian women in The Netherlands, by investigating the links between language (proficiency and bridging) and employment (alone and through contact) to their sense of belonging to Dutch society. We expected both indicators to be positively linked to Ukrainians’ sense of belonging. Using a quantitative approach, this correlational study involved 65 Ukrainian women who flew to The Netherlands and participated in a correlational study survey. Unexpectedly, we did not find significance for neither language nor employment as indicators of belonging. However, we found that women who had a job in The Netherlands engaged in more contact with Dutch people than those that were unemployed, which was linked with a stronger sense of belonging. Additionally, we discovered that when Ukrainian women were more fluent in Dutch they felt less socially excluded from Dutch society, which was linked to a stronger sense of belonging. Finally, we found that when people had a stronger wish or need for contact with Dutch people, they also reported having stronger feelings of belonging. Theoretical and practical implications regarding the psychological integration of Ukrainian women are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Hansen, N. and Gordijn, E.H.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route/Track:	Applied Social Psychology (ASP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	10 Jul 2025 16:08
Last Modified:	10 Jul 2025 16:08
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5463

Actions (login required)

View Item