Processes of Discrimination and Humiliation Experienced by Ecuadorian Immigrant Workers in Spain

David Ortega‐Jiménez, Luis Alvarado, Alejandra Trillo and Francisco D. Bretones
Additional contact information
David Ortega‐Jiménez: Departament of Psychology, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Ecuador
Luis Alvarado: Faculty of Psychological Sciences, University of Guayaquil, Ecuador
Alejandra Trillo: Department of Social Psychology, University of Granada, Spain
Francisco D. Bretones: Department of Social Psychology, University of Granada, Spain

Social Inclusion, 2023, vol. 11, issue 2, 48-58

Abstract: The workplace is currently one of the main places of discrimination for socially vulnerable groups such as immigrant workers, who are often required to take on highly stigmatized, menial jobs under supervisors who subject them to daily mistreatment and racism. This study adopted a qualitative approach to 42 semi‐structured interviews of Ecuadorian immigrant workers residing in Spain to explore the processes of discrimination these laborers feel in their everyday workplaces. The findings clearly indicate that immigrant workers can be victims of daily discrimination, which is evidenced by the higher degree of scrutiny and lower levels of trust they suffer compared to their Spanish counterparts, and by their supervisors’ lack of compliance with contractual agreements. As these immigrants are obliged to take on less qualified jobs, they suffer from a lack of recognition and a sense of being undervalued. This analysis also gathered evidence of interviewees’ daily humiliations imparted by their supervisors—and even, at times, by work colleagues—in the form of racial slurs, verbal abuse, and unequal treatment, leaving them feeling powerless and helpless. Most of our respondents in fact find themselves in a predicament they do not know how to confront and cannot reject. All of these factors lead to feelings of humiliation and lack of independence.

Keywords: discrimination; everyday racism; humiliation; workplace; Ecuadorian workers; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/6352 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v11:y:2023:i:2:p:48-58

DOI: 10.17645/si.v11i2.6352

Access Statistics for this article

Social Inclusion is currently edited by Mariana Pires

More articles in Social Inclusion from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().