The state of inter-ethnic relations as assessed by education migrants

This article presents an analysis of regional inter-ethnic relations: it describes a study conducted on the basis of deep semi-formalised interviews with foreign students from near and far abroad who study in Tomsk universities. The relevance of the topic is implied by the multinationality of Russian regions, the balanced development of which is possible only in the context of inter-ethnic harmony and the increasing flows of labour and education migration to Russia. Various factors such as politics, economy, demography and social culture can influence the tolerance of the society and initiate some conflict situations. Education migration is a new trend in the system of Russian university education. The number of international students in Russia is rising constantly. This publication includes the analysis of relations between education migrants and local people. The article is based on the results of a sociological survey conducted in June - October 2017 in Tomsk State Pedagogical University. Participants of the study gave their opinion on the current situation and their assessment to it, which helped the authors of the article to find out some misunderstandings between people. The study was conducted in Tomsk State Pedagogical University and Tomsk State University. About twenty international students were interviewed to identify negative and positive factors in inter-ethnic relations. According to the results, negative factors did not appear systematically. A lot of problems were connected with the new unknown language and cultural differences, the educational equality between Russian and international students was unbalanced as well. The students from Central Asia felt that they were assessed more negatively than non-CIS students. Most migrants suppose that friendship with the local society exists, but in real situations migrants were at a distance from the citizens. People from Central Asia communicated with other diasporas, but this communication was quite limited and covered only national holidays. People from the same ethnic groups were helping each other. The obtained data allow pointing out factors which can influence inter-ethnic relations and education migrant adaptation, they also help to offer corrective measures in education migrant adaptation strategies.

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