Trends in attitudes towards minority groups and diversity at school. An analysis of tolerance using ICCS 2016 and 2009 data.

• In Event: Young people’s perceptions of issues related to global citizenship, environmental sustainability, diversity and civic engagement since 2009. Results from ICCS.

Proposal

In its ‘Global Trends ’ report, the UNHCR reported an increase in refugees and migrants around the world in 2017, totalling 25.4 million refugees in the world in 2017 (UNHCR, 2018, p. 13) and 258 million migrants, following a decades-long pattern of steady growth (United Nations, 2017, p. 5). In addition to refugees and migrants, there are other groups of people within societies that differ in terms of ethnic, religious, cultural or linguistic identity. Tolerance towards these differences, and in particular towards minority groups within a country, is essential for inclusive social development.
The contact hypothesis, introduced by Allport (1954), proposes that interpersonal contact between majority and minority group members can reduce prejudice and foster positive attitudes towards the other group. Interaction outcomes are related to the conditions of the contact - for example, the existence of common goals who favor the contact. Extensions of the hypothesis suggest that knowing about contact between group members and members from other groups favours positive attitudes (see Wright et al., 1997; Paolini et al., 2007; Turner et al., 2008). Feddes et al. (2009) found that social status could be a moderating factor of the positive influence of direct contact.
Schools provide a platform for children to form civic attitudes and democratic values (Shafiq & Myers, 2014). Higher levels of positive attitudes towards minorities or tolerance have been hypothesized to be related to higher rates of diversity at school (Pettigrew, 1998; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). Diversity at school can refer to various aspects, e.g. nationality, ethnicity, and social status (Villalobos et al., 2018).
Research based on ICCS 2009 data found that interpersonal contact, in terms of participating in diverse school activities, can relate to positive attitudes towards equal rights for minority groups (Brese, 2015; Caro & Schulz, 2012; Treviño et al., 2018). However, the association with heterogeneity in school - indicating the level of students’ exposure to diversity in school - is not as straightforward (Janmaat 2015; Shafiq & Myers, 2014).
Using data from IEA’s ICCS 2016 and 2009, regression models are calculated, including a scale about students’ attitudes towards equal rights for all ethnic/racial groups as the dependent variable. Diversity at school regarding immigration status, ethnicity, and social status will be operationalized by aggregating the respective student characteristics to class level, using class composition regarding the students’ immigration status, the language spoken at the students’ home, and socioeconomic status (SES) of the students’ family. Further indicators for contact included in the analysis will be students’ civic participation in the wider community and at school. The model controls for students’ gender, students’ civic knowledge, SES, immigration status and language.
The paper will look at trends in 18 countries regarding students’ attitudes towards equal rights for ethnic groups. Further, changes in the relation of these attitudes with contact to peers and other groups, through contact at school and different forms of civic participation, can be identified. First results suggest that students’ civic participation at school remains related to positive attitudes towards equal rights for ethnic groups.

Authors

• Falk Brese, IEA

• Clara Beyer, The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement