I’ve written numerous times in the past about the value that comes when people migrate, bringing their fresh knowledge and experiences with them.  When this is combined with native expertise, novel innovations are often the result.

So anything that discourages such a flow of knowledge should be discouraged, right?  Whilst there is a broad move towards anti-immigrant policies in many countries around the world, any political discussions tend to revolve around things like visas, access to welfare and so on.  A recent study from the University of Buffalo suggests that the political climate has a more pernicious impact.

The research highlights the prejudice international students face from segments of the local student population, and that the political persuasion of locals has a big part to play in their attitude to the foreigners.

Making prejudice great again

Sadly, the research found a strong correlation between support for President Trump and prejudice against international students on campuses across America.  It’s a link that does not surprise the researchers.

“Some of President Trump’s policies, such as promoting ‘America First,’ the travel ban and his talk of building a wall are in line with unwelcoming attitudes toward immigrants — but this is the first evidence I’ve seen linking support for Trump with attitudes toward international students,” they say.  “This finding tells us that if you statistically account for stereotypes, those domestic students who were higher in Trump support still had significantly higher prejudice. Liking Trump goes beyond stereotypes in predicting prejudice against international students.”

The research suggests there are things that universities can do to counter this.  For instance, it emerged that students who felt a strong connection with their university and its identity were less likely to be prejudiced against fellow students.

“Among the predictors of prejudice against international students that administrators can influence, university identity came out as an important independent predictor,” the authors explain. “If you increase university identity and make everyone feel like they belong to one group then the division between domestic and international students should become smaller.”

This was also evidenced in more granular behaviors from students, as those who were more isolated were more prejudiced, whereas those who studied or shared activities together were not.  As in other warps of life, the more people felt content and accepted by their peers, the less likely they were to regard those peers negatively.

As universities across much of the western world, but especially in market leaders such as the United States and United Kingdom, aim to grow their international reach, these findings about the kind of environment they’re creating for international students should make university administrators sit up and take notice.  This is especially so as the introduction of international students has farther reaching benefits than their direct economic boon as a result of their studies.

“International students are part of the fiber and fabric of American universities. They bring different experiences, cultures, backgrounds, languages and ideas. Domestic students gain a great deal from the presence of internationals on campus and develop a deeper understanding of the world because of that diversity,” the authors say.  “Universities should make the effort to address these variables because the potential benefits are so great, for all involved.”