It has been commonly believed that college provides students their initial and most important contact with diverse religious perspectives, but a recent study suggested otherwise.
The Interfaith Diversity Experiences & Attitudes Longitudinal Survey found that after the first year of college, student engagement with diverse religions drops. Students find there is less discussion of religious diversity in classes with college professors than with their teachers in high school.
"We are missing an important opportunity if we’re not harnessing that energy within the higher-education environment to help student[s] make those connections."
Alyssa N. Rockenbach, a lead researcher on the survey and a professor of higher education at North Carolina State University, believes that students tend to gravitate toward others with similar religious backgrounds for reasons of security.
“College represents an optimal point in someone’s life when they have the opportunity to get to know people who have very different perspectives and worldviews than they do,” she said. “We are missing an important opportunity if we’re not harnessing that energy within the higher-education environment to help student[s] make those connections.”
More information on the study is available through the Chronicle of Higher Education.
From its beginnings, the Church of Scientology has recognized that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. In a world where conflicts are often traceable to intolerance of others’ religious beliefs and practices, the Church has, for more than fifty years, made the preservation of religious liberty an overriding concern.
The Church publishes this blog to help create a better understanding of the freedom of religion and belief and provide news on religious freedom and issues affecting this freedom around the world.
