Within the framework of the Tempus project a sociological study of students' attitudes towards people of other nationalities and foreign migrant workers was completed at the Siberian Federal University. The students of the Institute of Education, Psychology and Sociology and the Polytechnic  Institute of SibFU took part in the research as target group.

 

The results of the study showed that students of Siberian Federal University do not have a united position toward the multinational environment in which they live. Thus, among the possible answers to the question "What do you think about the fact that you are living in a multicultural environment?" the first place among ther answers takes the answer "I do not care" (30.8%).

 

The vast majority of students SFU (76%) have friends or relatives among representatives of other nationalities. The index of social distance for students of humanitarian branch of study is 3,694, for engineering students - 3,744. The average ISD = 3.722. According to the general index the most appropriate level of social distance for students SFU are professional contacts and study.

The majority (63%) of students of Siberian Federal University never encountered at Krasnoyarsk region with the manifestation of negative attitude besed on  national belonging toward themselves and 15.1% said that they never encountered such an attitude towards other people. At the same time 83.9% of the students indicated that they met negative attitude to people of other nationalities.

More than half of the students SFU (62.3%) tend to believe that the international situation in our region is stable, although there may be some conflicts in the sphere of everyday relations.

The most popular source from which SibFU students receive information about international relations is the Internet. Thus, 73.6% of respondents indicated that they get a lot of information about international relations from this source. Other sources of information are much less popular. Information about international relations which the students get from the basic sources they mark as neutral. However, it should be noted that the Internet is the most popular source of such information, distributes, according to students’ opinions, mostly negative information on this issue.  42.9% of respondents indicated that TV offers mostly negative information on this issue as well. Students responded that school distributes mostly positive information about international relations. More than half of the students do not get information about the international relations by means of radio and books. 

Up to 45.4% of the SibFU students believe that Russian labor migration has brought an equal number of benefits and harmful concequences, 47.1% of respondents agree to this statement when they judge the situation in Krasnoyarsk region. 52.1% of students responded that foreign migrant workers did not bring them any harm nor good. Only 14.4% of respondents believe that migrant workers pretend to take their  workplaces. Most students SFU (64.2%) do not see foreign migrant workers as competitors in the labor market.

The analysis of respondents' opinions about the need to protect the rights of migrant workers in Russia shows that the majority of students (74.5%) do not consider such assistance necessary. The majority (76.9%) of students are not willing to help foreign migrant workers to claim their rights in Russia. Among students spacialising in humanitarisn branch of studies the share of those who think there is the necessity to help foreign migrant workers to protect their rights in Russia is 8% higher than among students enrolled in technical specialties.

The danger coming from foreign migrant workers students link mainly with the depreciation of labor and competition in the labor market, as well as conflicts and differences connected with national issues. However, it is worth noting that the study does not so much reflect the real problems faced by young people as broadcast stereotypes living in society in the recent years. 20% of respondents could not indicate the reason why they feel threat coming from foreign migrant workers.

First of all SibFU students tend to identify themselves as "citizens of the Russian Federation", the second turn is identification as "representative of his ethnic group",  the third place takes identification  "a resident of some city", the fourth is  "resident of the region", the fifth  "representative of his religious tradition."

 

SFU students' attitudes to the concept "Russians" is expressed mainly by two groups of opinion. The first means - a representative of the Russian or other indigenous peoples of Russia "(41.3%), and the second - that the Russian is any citizen of the Russian Federation regardless of nationality "(33.7%).