INVESTIGATING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS REFUGEES IN TURKEY

Back to Page Authors: Yulia Kryvenko

---

Keywords: refugee, empathy, ATRSC, gender

---

Abstract: Over the past decade world have witnessed multi-sided armed conflict in Syria which resulted in more than half population fleeing their homes. Nearly 55 percent of refugees residing in Turkey alone. Most of the refugees coming from Syria to Turkey are young people under 25. In this sense, along with the all other problems, it becomes important that Syrian refugee students adapt well to Turkish education system and are able to access to quality education. The data of the study were gathered from a total of 340 students from eight different universities in Istanbul. Attitude towards Refugee Students Scale (ATRSC) and Empathy Scale were used to measure students’ demeanor towards refugees/immigrants. Significant differences were found between genders both in Empathy Scales [t(338)=2.24, p<.05] and in ATRSC [t(338)=4,51, p<.01] with female students having more positive attitudes towards refugees than male students and having higher empathy than males. However, there was no significant connection found between the scales Empathy Tendency and ATRSC (r(340)=,004 p>.05) suggesting that empathy is not the only personality trait that influences students' attitudes towards refugees and yet to be studied.

---