Interfaith engagement in college combats Islamophobia, according to research by Shaheen & colleagues

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New research published by Musbah Shaheen, assistant professor of higher education, and colleagues at The Ohio State University, North Carolina State University, and Mississippi State University suggests that college environments play a vital role in combating Islamophobia.

The article, published in the Journal of Higher Education, finds that non-Muslim students are more likely to develop positive attitudes toward Muslims when they participate in two or more social engagements that intend to bridge religious and spiritual differences. This work builds upon previous research conducted by Shaheen and colleagues that focused specifically on students’ first year of college, and the impact that time can have on interfaith engagement.

The study utilizes data from the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS) project, which followed thousands of students attending 122 colleges and universities across their four years in college. IDEALS has been used in other research projects as well, including studies that explored attitudes toward Jews and Evangelicals. 

“If we want to prepare students to interact productively with an increasingly diverse and global world,” says Shaheen, “we need to provide them with the opportunity to engage across lines of difference in all its forms, including religious differences.”

Higher education plays a crucial role in presenting these opportunities, Shaheen said, but noted that tensions around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work on university and college campuses complicate their implementation.

“To disrupt postsecondary Islamophobic expression, students must have the opportunity to have and build relationships with Muslim peers. Educators are central to providing and optimizing these opportunities.”

Based on these findings, educators and administrators alike can take immediate steps to enhance their classrooms and administrative spaces, says Shaheen, beginning with identifying the support programs, structures, and policies that exist within their office, department, or college to support the needs of students with diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds. Many tools now exist to help educators assess and benchmark their campuses in relation to others (inspiresindex.org is a notable example). Questions to ask:

• Does the university/division/department have policies for granting religious accommodations?
• Do instructors include in their syllabi statements on absences for religious holidays?
• Are there structures in place that can address incidents of religious bias and religiously-motivated hate when they occur?
• Are there educators who are trained and prepared to engage topics of religious difference through formal and informal programs?
• Do JEDI efforts at the office, department, or university level include interfaith engagement as an explicitly stated priority?  

Musbah Shaheen joined the College of Education this fall, having previously been affiliated with The Ohio State University as a Research Senior Associate. Broadly speaking he is interested in the expression of religion on public university campuses  and the challenges that accompany such expression. His future research will focus on identifying specific engagements and interventions that foster lasting positive attitudinal change across faiths and on how institutional, local, and national climates influence attitudes toward different marginalized religious groups.

Read the open access article online.