Racism Among Students of Swinburne University Essay

A survey was conducted amongst students of Swinburne University in order to ascertain their opinion in regard to their perceptions about racism. The students were informed that their responses will be treated as confidential and that it was an entirely voluntary exercise. The purpose of the survey was to inform students and staff if there were any racial acts occurring within the community of Swinburne University. The aim of the survey was to conduct research in this regard by way of a short questionnaire. The numbers of male respondents were a little more than females.

In regard to the question “What links/ connections do you make when you hear the word “racism”?, most of the students responded that hatred was the first thought that came to their minds in regard to racism. Next in line were the responses of not caring, thus indicating that there were a significant number of respondents who did not care much about racism. Responses in regard to the options of feeling bigoted, excluded and serious were next in terms of the the number of responses. The least number of respondents felt that racism made them feel marginalized.

In response to the question, What do you understand by ‘racism’? , majority of the respondents felt that racism was based on skin color, and next important reason was that nationality was an important factor in deciding the connotation of racism. Religion was the next most important reason given to cite the occurrence of racism while politics came next. Subsequent responses in terms of the numbers were language spoken, English accent, gender and complete appearance.

While responding to the question, What do you think might be some effective ways to educate Swinburne students (generation Y) about racism? most respondents felt that the best way to educate students in Swinburne about racism was to take them out together for some days of fun and frolic, thus implying that students were open to the idea of mixing with each other to do away with the perceived differences. Similarly, many students believed that taking students for an entire week of fun events will go a long way in educating them about issues concerning racism. The next in line, in terms of number of responses, indicated that flyers and brochures will be effective in enlightening them about the issue. The subsequent response in terms of popularity pertained to the suggestion that seminars should be conducted so that students become aware of racism by discussing the issue on a common platform. Next in line was the response that focus groups can succeed in enabling students to learn more about racism and finally, though with the least number of responses, some students felt that lecture styles can accomplish the task of educating students on racism.

The questionnaire showed students two posters which depicted written slogans of “Too Many Foreigns” and “Wogs Out” in obvious reference to racism and were asked if they had witnessed that kind of behavior. Surprisingly only 33% students responded with a yes while 67% responded with a no, thus implying that the menace of racism is not very severe in the university. Such responses also indicate that students at Swinburne are quite open and not prone to too many instances of racism. Such a conclusion is also evident from responses to the other three questions. It is hence clear that there are not many instances of racial acts occurring within the community of Swinburne University.