Cultural Self-Identification and Orientations to Cross-Cultural Mixing on an Australian University Campus

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ABSTRACTAustralian universities are sites of growing cultural diversity, with large numbers of international students joining domestic students, many of whom come from migrant backgrounds. The literature indicates that the opportunities this creates for cross-cultural mixing and intercultural learning are often not embraced. This paper reports results of a study of orientations to cross-cultural interaction and learning among first year students, focussing on the relationship between such orientations and cultural self-identification. The findings indicate some ambivalence among the students, including a widespread general positivity towards the idea of cross-cultural interaction, but reticence to make personal efforts to take up these opportunities. Cultural self-identification was related to students’ openness to diversity. Students who identified as Australian tended to be less interested in engaging across cultures, whereas those with culturally different (migrant), and more complex ‘Australian + other’ identifications, appeared more open. Implications for studies of cross-cultural mixing, and for higher education institutions, are discussed.