СОЦИОДЕМОГРАФСКЕ ДЕТЕРМИНАНТЕ КАО ПРЕДИКТОРИ ИНТЕРКУЛТУРАЛНЕ ОСЕТЉИВОСТИ СТУДЕНАТА

Abstract

Societal heterogeneity, as a global paradigm, represents a strong leverage of the initiative for the development and research of an individual’s and groups’ intercultural sensitivity. In the last few decades, interculturality, intercultural competencies and intercultural sensitivity have been the topic of many researches in various fields. Students’ intercultural sensitivity is the focus of this paper and it is seen through the prism of socio-demographic determinants. The results of the research which was done on the sample of 452 students from four universities in Serbia are shown in the methodological part of the paper. The instrument used was the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale – ISS. The goal of the research is to determine the degree of the development of the students’ intercultural sensitivity in relation to certain socio-demographic variables. Results have shown that the students from the State University of Novi Pazar are estimated to have the highest level of intercultural sensitivity in certain dimensions of the scale. The average number of household members, was identified as a variable with a negative correlation on the students’ intercultural sensitivity. The conclusion points out to the necessity of change in the approach to the development of the students’ intercultural sensitivity approach, which is reflected in the research in that it should point to adequate work approaches that enrich their experience and influence the changes in social and educational context.