ANR-Lab Open Seminar "Patterns of Structuring Classmate Preferences in Ethnically Mixed Classes"

On October 14 at 15:00 Artem Oganyan and Asya Karimova will talk about the research "Patterns of Structuring Classmate Preferences in Ethnically Mixed Classes".

This paper attempts to describe and model the structure of preferences among schoolchildren in ethnically mixed classes in one of the schools in Tajikistan. A characteristic feature of the post-Soviet period of development of this country is the contradictory relations that have developed between the ethnic majority and minorities, especially Russians. The study of the complexity of relations between Tajiks and Russians has been mainly conducted in Russia, while in Tajikistan these relations have been practically not studied. In an effort to fill this gap, we turned to data from a survey of schoolchildren (N = 154) on the nature of intercultural relations in their classes. Among other things, this survey presents sociometric information on which of their classmates students prefer or do not prefer to study with. Using these data, we constructed directed networks of interactions between students and, using an exponential random graph model (ERGM), estimated the statistical significance of different processes of structuring (mutual) preferences between students and how these processes are related to students’ ethnicity and the salience of their civic and ethnic identities. Summarizing the results of the modeling using meta-regression, we found that preference for one’s own ethnic group over others is not a significant main effect of the relationship in this school. Strong differences in the degree of civic identification with Tajikistan are associated with a lower probability of forming ethnically exclusive ties both among Tajik students and among students of other ethnicities. Differences in the level of ethnic identification reduce the probability of forming ethnically exclusive ties only among non-Tajik students. At the same time, the increasing difference in civic and ethnic identification is simultaneously associated with a relative increase in the probability of the formation of ethnically exclusive ties in all groups, which emphasizes the nonlinear nature of the relationship between ethnicity and social identification in real relationships. The paper draws conclusions about the significance and limitations of the results obtained, and outlines paths for further research.
Language: Russian.
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