Multiculturalism at Czech universities as a predictor of diversity work place. The case of students from former Soviet Union

Abstract

The study is focused on the problematic of spreading multiculturalism at universities in the Czech Republic. The number of immigrants mostly from regions of Eastern Europe coming to work and live in the country keeps growing. From previous research, it is apparent that success in dealing with immigrants at Universities and in the work places is conditioned by the perception of minorities and vice versa. Whereas most of the research is focused on the perception of minority groups, there is a lack of research data regarding the perception of majority groups. The current study is concerned with the perception of a majority group by foreign students from former Soviet Union studying at Czech universities. The methods were chosen to achieve the research objectives. We used free associations, which are best to explore the perception dimensions. A group of foreign students from the former Soviet Union (N = 55) studying at Czech universities were interviewed via the Internet. The research results proved the validity of Susan Fiske’s Model of Stereotype Content of inter-group perception based on agency – communion dimensions. Moreover, the findings showed how different cultures and social backgrounds change the patterns of judgment. These data are considered to be highly important for work in diversified groups. Practical applications of the research outcomes and future directions are discussed.

Keywords

• multiculturalism
• universities
• diversity
• perception
• free associations