Abstract
German universities are obligated to guarantee a fair learning-environment for students with diverse features. They also must prepare students for a highly diverse working environment. This means to develop awareness for diversity and to train intercultural competence. The present study takes an exploratory look at the extent to which diversity awareness is established among Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and which barriers for the academic success students with a migration background perceive. To counteract discrepancies between the current state and the need for diversity awareness at universities, it identifies areas with room for improvement regarding the dealing with cultural diversity. Structured interviews with 31 STEM students were carried out and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The interviews revealed differences in the awareness of diversity between students with and without a migration background. Results showed that there are barriers for STEM students with migration backgrounds which potentially reduce their academic success. Those barriers result from a lack of acceptance of cultural diversity and insufficient social integration and were especially apparent in insufficient language skills, orientation difficulties and a lower degree of social integration. On the other hand, there is a need for both students with and without a migration background to promote competence and raise awareness for diversity. Furthermore, the role of social support as a resource became apparent.
Highlights
The term “diversity” has become a catchphrase, which does often not reflect the complexity and connected challenges of the concept
While political discourse and social desirability might bias explicitly expressed opinions towards diversity, the aim of the present study is to examine the implicit attitudes towards diversity of STEM students on the questions which specific perspectives, attitudes and competences do the surveyed STEM students have and need and whether the surveyed STEM students with migration background perceive barriers that potentially impede their academic success
The survey revealed differences in the awareness of diversity between students with and students without a migration background. Those students who were little aware of the issue seemed to have a tendency towards negative attitudes towards cultural diversity
Summary
The term “diversity” has become a catchphrase, which does often not reflect the complexity and connected challenges of the concept. High diversity in various dimensions, which is basically present in every western society, is connected to challenges and chances (van Knippenberg et al, 2013). In a dynamic social environment, like the workplace or the university, changes connected cultural and ethnic diversity are especially likely to lead to the perception of insecurity or stress. This is strongly associated to a lack of intercultural competence and negative attitudes towards cultural diversity of both people with and without a migration background (Van der Zee and Van Oudenhoven, 2013). People with a migration background are much more often considered the minority group and stigmatized, which is why they are at a high risk to experience a loss of performance capacity due to intercultural stress (Thomas, 2009; Caligiuri, 2012; Chen et al, 2012)
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