'Unwelcome sisters?' An analysis of findings from a study of how Muslim women (and Muslim men) experience university.

Integrating students into an academic community has long been established as an important aspect of a student's life and learning on university campuses. Yet efforts at greater inclusiveness by both institutions and teaching staff are taking place in the context of an increasingly diverse student body, in Australia as elsewhere. Differences between students, and between staff and students, offer both challenges and opportunities. This article reports findings from a national study of female and male Muslim students in Australian universities--a group strongly associated with difference. The study found that, although their academic satisfaction and commitment are strong, their sense of belonging may be diminished by factors operating at both institutional and interpersonal levels. Gender differences were generally not significant within the group, which challenges certain stereotypes regarding relations between male and female Muslims.

Key words

diversity (student)

gender issues

Islamic culture

religious differences

social integration

student experience

Introduction

In the context of integrating students into a community of learners, interactions with student peers and with teaching staff have long been established as an important aspect of university student learning. As Pascarella and Terenzini's (1991) monumental study established, student interactions with 'major agents of socialization' on campus influence both intellectual outcomes and changes in attitudes and values. Increasingly, therefore, teachers are working to make classes more interactive, and to place greater emphasis on group work in and out of class. Services and support are also being expanded at institutional level to help students integrate. Yet these efforts at inclusivity take place in the context of an increasingly diverse student body, in Australia as elsewhere, and that diversity can pose challenges to institutions, teachers and students themselves. Assumptions of cultural, ethnic and linguistic homogeneity within student populations are no longer justified (if they ever were).

Supporting and integrating students associated with difference is not the only goal. It is increasingly recognised that, in pedagogical as well as social terms, all students should be educated to function interculturally within their own multicultural societies and as global citizens. Highlighting the benefits of exposure to and contact with difference, Smith and Schonfeld's (2000) review of United States studies of diversity noted that 'studies on cognitive development show that critical thinking, problem-solving capacities and cognitive complexity increase for all students exposed to diversity on the campus and in the classroom'. In earlier studies, studying ideas, cultures and perspectives other than one's own had been found by Ratcliff (1995) to help develop intellectual inquisitiveness and critical thinking, and Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedorn, and Terenzini (1996) reported that students' interactions with diverse peers led to greater openness to diversity and challenge.

In Australia, the debate on diversity has been heavily influenced by rising numbers of international students. Valuable work has been done on demolishing stereotypes associated, for example, with the supposed characteristics of the 'Asian learner' (Biggs, 1999; Chalmers & Volet, 1998; Kember, 2000). It can be argued, however, that local aspects of difference--such as Aboriginality, or speaking a language other than English at home--should also be included in discussions of how to integrate students equally into academic life. Religious difference, historically overlooked on ostensibly secular western campuses (Nash, 2001), comes into play here. The research project reported in this paper took as its starting point the view that Muslim students--female and male, international and local--would provide a useful case study of how we in universities are responding to new aspects of difference.

Although gender issues intersect with those of race and religion in some unique ways for Muslim students, and although at this point in history Muslims are under some unwelcome scrutiny, this study does not claim any overall exceptionalism for this group of students. Rather their perceptions are seen as a mirror of how students associated with difference might be experiencing our campuses in a changing world.

Background

According to the 2001 Australian Census, there are now 284 585 Muslims in Australia--1.5 per cent of the population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002). Much has now been written on the history of Muslim communities in Australia (Deen, 1995; Humphrey, 1987,1989; Saeed & Akbarzadeh, 2000) but little has been published on the Muslim presence in Australian universities. Our analysis of the 1996 Australian Census data revealed that a higher proportion of Muslim men attend university than men in the total population. Moreover the same applies to Muslim women living in Australia, 4.41 per cent of whom attend university, compared with 3.78 per cent of women in the total population. The explanation of these figures is related to the presence of international students (Asmar, 2001).

Research on Muslim students outside Australia has usually been confined to Islamic schools (Fahlman, 1985; Hawe, 1998), although Harris (1995) mentions Muslims briefly in his United Kingdom study of overseas university students. More recently, scholars such as Ahmad (2001) and Pickerden (2002) have investigated Muslim women in higher education in the United Kingdom. It is a welcome development that Muslim scholars in the west, including many women, are increasingly coming forward with their own research (Ahmad, 2001; Halaweh, 1996; Nebhan, 2000). Interestingly studies of Muslims carried out by women have often been limited to women. Colleagues assumed that in undertaking this study we would not be investigating Muslim men. When this was mentioned to a group of female participants in the study (after its completion), one laughed and commented: 'That's probably because they think men oppress us, and we are victims'. We were interested in testing the validity of assumptions that Muslim men and women inevitably exist in an oppositional relationship to one another.

In North America, Muslim university students have sometimes been referred to in publications discussing religious issues in tertiary education (Laird, 2000; Nash, 2001), or occasionally in articles specifically on Muslim students (Speck, 1997). However, at the time of writing, and despite the post-September 11 focus on Muslims in general, there is still little published research on this minority group. In the United States studies, Muslims report some recurring perceptions and experiences: namely expectations of stereotyping; being called on to represent or interpret their whole faith; feeling that academic staff are not supportive (and occasionally hostile); feeling targeted by media misrepresentation; and experiencing difficulty in meeting their religious obligations. Muslims appear to share many perceptions and experiences with other minority groups in North America (Nora & Cabrera, 1996; Steele, 1997). In Australia, Farrington, Digregorio, and Page (1999) have noted that indigenous students' course experiences are negatively affected when their learning environments are in conflict with their cultural needs.

Methods

The findings discussed in this article are from a national study of the course experience of Muslim students in Australian universities, funded by a research grant from the University of Sydney. It was the first survey of its kind in Australia, and probably the first such study anywhere. The first phase of the study was a series of 28 structured face-to-face interviews with Muslim students across the four states which together contain 92 per cent of Australian Muslims. Findings from the first phase have been published elsewhere (Asmar, 2001) so this article will focus largely on findings from the second phase, namely a questionnaire survey administered in 2000-2001 (before September 11).This quantitative survey was developed from the qualitative material gathered in the first phase. The initial questionnaire was piloted with Muslim students not included in the sample and modified in response to their feedback.

Since details of religious affiliation are not collected by Australian universities at the point of enrolment, it was not possible to identify a representative sample of all students with an affiliation to Islam. Other researchers in this area have chosen either to use personal networks and snowball sampling (Ahmad, 2001) or to access students participating in religious activities such as prayer (Speck, 1997). In the case of the present study, contact with students was arranged with the cooperation of the Muslim Students Association (MSA). On the one hand, this meant that the sample was probably biased in the direction of the religiously observant, since nonobservant Muslims tend not to join the MSA. On the other hand, practising Muslims were the exact group it was felt important to investigate. This was particularly so in the case of the women, most of whom (77%) chose to wear the highly identifiable hijab.

The web-based survey, modelled on an existing survey in use at the University of Sydney (1), provided anonymity, speed and ease of response. In order to reassure respondents of a layer of concealment, the MSA on consenting campuses agreed to email all their members, directing them to our survey website. Print versions of the questionnaire were also distributed by the researchers at Friday prayers or lunchtime MSA meetings. Unless they knew the researchers personally, the students (over two-thirds) preferred the web option and, although this did affect the researchers' ability to monitor exactly who was responding, almost all were found to meet the criteria for inclusion.

Although it was technically possible for an individual to submit multiple returns, there was little to be gained by doing this, since we were investigating individuals' personal perceptions and attitudes rather than, say, trying to make a case for how many Muslims were enrolled. The heartfelt and personal nature of some write-in comments and anecdotes (see below) further suggested that respondents were unlikely to replicate the exercise. A check of the raw data revealed a high degree of variation between responses. Moreover our experience with other surveys indicates that students are far more likely not to respond at all than to bother submitting multiple returns.

The responses entered through the website went directly into an Access database. Answers from the print surveys were entered online by one of the researchers. Respondents were asked to provide demographic details and then respond to items dealing with overall course satisfaction; satisfaction with university services and support; sense of belonging to an academic community; and perceptions of discrimination. Well over a third (37%) availed themselves of the opportunity to write comments at the end of the questionnaire, which suggests that the issues were seen as highly salient. Salience was further suggested by the revealing and personal nature of those comments. Some of the quotes are used below to support interpretations of the findings, together with quotes from phase one interviews. The quantitative data were exported into an SPSS file, and analyses were carried out using the chi-square statistic to test for significant differences between male and female responses.

Findings

Of the total 175 useable responses, 93 (53%) were from females and 82(47%) were from males; 72 per cent were undergraduates, and 64 per cent were local students. A majority of the 36 per cent who were international students were graduate students. In 151 cases, respondents identified their institutions, with the largest number (43) coming from the University of Sydney. The prestige associated with the oldest universities in Australia appears to make them favoured choices for local students from established Muslim migrant communities, including a high proportion of Australian-born women. Because the University of Sydney somewhat dominated the sample, the proportion of women in the sample was correspondingly high. On campuses with proportionately greater numbers of international students, the percentage of Muslim women tends to be lower, as conservative families are reluctant to send their daughters to study abroad. This was borne out by the fact that 86 per cent of the females were undergraduates, compared with only 56 per cent of males; and whereas 44 per cent of females were Australian-born, only 24 per cent of males were.

Overall satisfaction with courses

In terms of overall course satisfaction, the responses of the sample were in line with the way Australian graduates generally rate their university courses: 66.5 per cent agreed that they were satisfied, compared with 68 per cent of all graduates responding to the 2001 Australia-wide Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) survey (GCCA, 2002). (2) Few written comments related directly to the academic content of their course, or to the way they were taught. One female commented: 'All I care about (is) gaining knowledge and contributing to my community and my religion'. However there was some disquiet:

   Courses are geared around certain assumptions that sometimes do not
   apply to Muslims. We cannot mix freely with the opposite gender ...
   sometimes we do not fit the assumption of uni life, and that means
   we have to work around it, that's all.

Campus environments where cross-gender interactions are not only taken for granted, but actively encouraged, present a problem for practising Muslim males and females. However they are pragmatic about the need to 'work around it'--for example, getting permission to bring a friend to consultations with a tutor of the opposite sex. Some were also concerned that courses on Islam are often taught either by non-Muslims or even by people perceived as hostile to Islam: 'Let a real Muslim teach Islam ... Imagine a non-Aboriginal person teaching Aboriginal culture?'.

About two-thirds of females (64%) and males (67%) said they would recommend their university to other Muslim students, although one female enrolled at a rural campus wrote:

   There are little to no (Muslim) students attending my university
   and as a result it is not a very Islamic environment to be in and
   the other students have trouble accepting females with a scarf. I
   would not recommend this university for a Muslim student.

Generally speaking, students at campuses with significant numbers of other Muslims seemed more satisfied, although this was often conditional on whether the university was perceived to have done enough to meet their religious needs, as will now be seen. There were no significant gender differences between how males and females rated their institutions and their overall course satisfaction.

Overall satisfaction with services and support

As Table 1 shows, satisfaction with services and support for the needs of Muslims (students and staff) was noticeably lower than the overall satisfaction reported in relation to courses themselves. Only one-third agreed that Muslims' needs were being met. Fewer than half the respondents (42%) agreed that they were satisfied with support and services, with 45 per cent ambivalent.

Comparisons with wider student populations suggested that Muslims seemed less satisfied in this respect than students in general. At one university in the study, an annual survey revealed that, in both 2000 and 2001, about 60 per cent of all undergraduates agreed that they were satisfied with services and support for students. At the same university, only 24 per cent of Muslim students surveyed in 2000-2001 expressed such agreement. At the time, prayer facilities at that institution were quite inadequate for the large Muslim population, and one respondent commented: 'As a Muslim I would greatly appreciate it if the uni offered a larger prayer room, as (it is) known praying, being one of the Pillars of Islam, holds great importance for all Muslims'. Another had earlier spoken of 'the black hole of Calcutta'.

At other universities providing good facilities, satisfaction was correspondingly higher, as expressed by this male student:

   I feel convenient at this university. They provide Islamic centre
   (Mosque), halal kebabs, and other concerns. They welcome my family
   who wear headscarf ... I have no bad experience as a Moslem at this
   university.

Some students felt that recognition of students' religious needs paralleled a general institutional commitment to valuing difference:

   There is high tolerance for any religion or beliefs in my
   university. Not many females wear Hajab, but when they do, they are
   regarded as normal. There are regular Friday prayers, morning and
   evening gatherings, and Qur'an reading sessions.

It should be recalled that the most important religious requirement for practising Muslims is that of daily prayer, and so a space dedicated for this purpose is regarded as essential. A larger space is also needed on Fridays, for congregational prayer. Ablution facilities are a necessary adjunct to prayer (with separation of the sexes), and to a lesser extent the provision of halal food is also considered important (Dietze, 1997).

A somewhat higher percentage of women expressed dissatisfaction or ambivalence than did the men, but not significantly so. The need for dedicated facilities away from public view may be felt more keenly by women. Both men and women had said in interviews that, where there was no prayer room available, they were reduced to praying in empty classrooms or between shelves in the library.

Sense of belonging to an academic community

So far the findings have suggested that Muslim satisfaction with services, facilities and support is considerably less than their overall academic satisfaction. The findings shown in Table 2 explore further the extent to which students felt they were part of an academic community.

It can be seen that well over half the students (61%) agreed that they feel part of a group of staff and students committed to learning, and feel able to explore their academic interests with staff and students (51%). However less than a third (31%) feel they really belong to the university community.

One question that may legitimately be asked here is whether all students feel this way, and we were able to attempt a limited comparison. At the university mentioned earlier, items relating to the concept of a learning community were included in the 2001 undergraduate survey for the first time--the same items which had already appeared in the Muslim survey. When it came to feeling they belonged to the university community, only 31 per cent of Muslims agreed, compared with 47 per cent of all undergraduates. This difference appears related to Muslim dissatisfaction (mentioned above) with what they saw as lack of support from that particular institution. It may also have reflected discomfort with aspects of campus culture. That this dissatisfaction was not confined to one institution was borne out by the fact that other data (see Table 4 below) show only 31 per cent of the sample as a whole felt their university valued Muslims. Among Muslims, therefore, a strong sense of academic commitment and satisfaction was counterbalanced by negative feelings about being integrated into the campus community. Services were not the only issue. A male student commented: 'Some of it is to do with our own failure to ask/demand more facilities and concessions, but overall attitudes are not going to change in the immediate future'. In none of the above sets of responses were there any significant gender differences, although once again a higher proportion of women were ambivalent or negative.

Perceptions of discrimination

Asked if teaching staff treated Muslim students the same as other students, 73 per cent of males and 66 per cent of females agreed (although a further 24 per cent of women said 'In some ways', compared with only 14% of males). Given the importance for learning of interactions with staff, this finding is encouraging. However some female students had related in interviews that they were sometimes 'spotlighted' by teaching staff."

   But that lecturer--he's been very different from the start of my
   course too. He's treated me--sort of limelights on me all the time.
   He's always turned the attention to me when I walk into lectures.
   Like I'm something really special and, 'Oh, hello, X, my Turkish
   girl. Good to see you'.... But yeah, there were times when I really
   didn't like him to do that too much.

The interesting thing about this particular lecturer was that he taught a business course which included ways of doing business in Muslim countries, and reminded his students that it was often inappropriate for Muslim men and women to shake hands with the opposite sex. Yet this student reported that he had once attempted to shake her hand himself: 'And actually, he wasn't very happy when I said, "No, I can't shake your hand". Yeah--I don't know if he thought I was being stubborn'. Another female respondent suggested that feelings of intimidation might work both ways: 'As a mature aged student and a practising Muslim woman, I found myself to be a threat to most of the lecturers in the course'. It is also possible, of course, that expectations of discriminatory treatment, rather than the actual experience of it, may influence perceptions, as one student admitted: 'It is hard for me to say whether people in the university unwelcome sisters wearing Hajab or whether the staff is treating me the same, as on the face they seem alright'.

Table 3 shows the findings regarding perceived negative attitudes to Muslims on campus, including women in hijab, and about perceived attitudes off campus. There were no significant differences between males and females on any of these issues, although more women were negative or ambivalent. The question on whether women wearing the hijab sometimes feel unwelcome elicited almost identical responses from men and women, about a quarter of whom agreed (27% and 26% respectively), with 38 per cent of women and 41 per cent of men disagreeing. These findings seemed to indicate that male and female Muslims--contrary to certain non-Muslim expectations--share very similar values and concerns. Interestingly, too, although 13 men (16%) and 11 women (12%) agreed that there were negative attitudes to Muslims on campus, further analysis showed that all 11 of those women wore the hijab. Thus, whereas a number of men agreed discrimination was a problem, no uncovered women agreed (although 64% said 'in some ways'). The issue of a possible 'hijab effect' will be discussed later.

The findings presented in Table 3 corroborate the fact that, in interviews, students had generally seen the off-campus environment as less comfortable. Nearly a quarter of respondents agreed there are negative attitudes off-campus, with a further 58 per cent saying 'In some ways'. At the time of writing, Australian media were reporting regular verbal and physical attacks on Muslims in the wider community. Only a small proportion (14%) saw the campus environment as unwelcoming, although interviews had indicated that not all personal experiences were positive.

It will be seen from the results described above that, somewhat contrary to expectations, male and female Muslim students share the same experiences and attitudes. The idea that male Muslims are in some kind of oppositional relationship with their female peers appeared strongly refuted. In interviews, it had been clear that the 'brothers' felt a duty of care towards the 'sisters'--for example, escorting them to public transport at night. The men were also well aware of their wives' and relatives' experiences:

   When I've been with my family members, usually no one will swear or
   say anything. But as soon as the females are out together, doing
   some shopping or something, then almost every single time they have
   to come back and tell us a story about how this guy stuck a finger
   up, or this guy swore.

Gender, race and the 'hijab effect'

In all the findings reported so far, larger percentages of women expressed negative or ambivalent views than men, but not significantly so. Halaweh's (1996) study similarly found no significant differences between male and female Muslim student responses. However, in just two instances, there were statistically significant differences between male and female responses. When asked whether they felt Muslim students were valued at their university, women were significantly less likely to agree than men, as Table 4 indicates. Whereas 41 per cent of men agreed, only 23 per cent of women did, and a quarter of the women disagreed.

Why this apparently gendered difference? Upon further examining responses to the item, a number of factors emerged. First, the wording of the question may have seemed ambiguous. A male student wrote next to the item:

   Why should Muslim students be appreciated in any way different to
   other students? I don't think Muslimhood is in any way an
   entitlement for any privileges. This very implication--if my
   understanding is correct--is problematic in many ways.

The question also seemed to prompt reflections that universities appearing to 'value' the Muslim student presence, in terms of providing them with prayer and other facilities, were motivated solely by what one student called 'an economic decision for overseas student dollars'. The student went on to remark: 'That's why the attitude of staff and inclusiveness is still a problem', which indicates a perception that institutional gestures were not paralleled by genuine shifts in staff attitudes.

Neither of these explanations, however, relate directly to the gender of the respondents. The most likely cause of the disparity lies in the composition of the sample. As noted earlier, the sample was dominated by the University of Sydney, where a large proportion of Australian-born Muslim women are enrolled: 31 women responded to the survey at the University of Sydney, compared with only 12 men. Given that these women are numerous, aware of their rights and highly critical of what at the time were inadequate facilities for prayer, it seems likely that their responses influenced the overall results.

Further support for this interpretation was provided later. In 2001, the University built handsome new facilities for the Muslims, including a space for women to pray in, which was equal in size to that for men. At a seminar sponsored by the Sydney University Muslim Students Association (SUMSA) in August 2002, the first author presented the results of this study to about 40 Muslim students. The female students (as usual, at SUMSA meetings, more numerous and more vocal than the males) agreed that their response to the 'valued' question would have been more positive if they had been surveyed after the new facilities were built. It therefore appears that, despite some cynicism regarding the universities' motives in meeting Muslim students' needs, the provision of prayer-related facilities goes a long way to making Muslims feel valued and integrated within the campus community.

The other question eliciting significantly different responses from men and women asked whether they felt comfortable interacting with non-Muslim students in their course. As Table 5 shows, men (69%) were significantly more likely to feel comfortable in such interactions than women, only 51 per cent of whom agreed, although only 18 per cent disagreed. This finding has some important implications, given the role of interpersonal relations in learning.

The Islamic Counsellor at one large university reported that her female student clients felt their fellow students had negative expectations of female Muslims' ability to participate in group work:

   I think that they feel that the discrimination issue is quite a
   predominant one ... when it comes to pairing off and getting into
   groups, a lot of the young students (feel) that they're not fit to
   be part of the group. For whatever reason ... the other group has
   made an assumption ... that they won't be able to be active
   participants or are restricted by their beliefs.

Although there seemed little evidence of direct student-to-student discrimination, a female student in hijab noted other barriers:

   I think most students respect Muslim students. And the Muslim
   students respect them ... If you're more talkative and outgoing and
   if you can make friends easily, whether you wear a hijab or not ...
   Usually I make friends, and my friends have their male friends. So
   they're always with us too. At times, I don't really feel
   comfortable with that.

A possible 'hijab effect' was suggested by reports from women who only started wearing the hijab after converting to Islam:

   I KNOW I am treated differently to non-Muslims, especially as I wear
   the hijab, as I only converted 1 year ago, so I can feel the
   difference I receive in all aspects of the university, and in
   outside areas. We are not treated equally, and I sometimes feel we
   are despised (negative stereotypes run rampant!).

Given the fact that Muslim women in hijab are a 'visible minority' in a way Muslim men are not, an intersection between race and gender may also be occurring. A female student in hijab perceptively noted:

   People at uni seem to be more open minded because, you know, they're
   more educated. (But) in the suburbs, especially the area where I
   live, you get some really narrow minded people. So you get a lot
   more hassle over there. If my husband's wearing Islamic clothing, he
   gets it more than I do. Which is interesting.

A male student at the SUMSA seminar echoed this view:

   Muslim sisters are more identifiable as Muslims because there are
   more sisters in hijab than there are brothers with beards. So a
   brother might fit in you know as ... an everyday Australian
   whereas the sisters stand out more as Muslims.

Thus, Muslim women's experiences of feeling uncomfortable on campus and targeted off campus may be primarily due to their being identifiable as Muslims, rather than because they are women. This is not to deny, however, that racialised attitudes may be compounded by stereotyping regarding Muslim women in particular: 'You have to be dumb to wear a scarf, you know!', laughed one student.

To explore the possibility of a 'hijab effect' we carried out further analysis of the data, breaking down all female responses by whether or not they wore the hijab. Given that only 23 per cent of the women went uncovered, the small sample size meant that in only two instances were there statistically significant differences, and a larger sample may have yielded more substantive results. Generally speaking, and despite mutually high levels of academic satisfaction, a larger proportion of women in hijab expressed negative views than women who did not cover. Fewer hijab women felt that they belonged, were part of a group, or could explore academic interests. No uncovered women agreed that Muslims on campus met negative attitudes, or that staff treated Muslims differently, but a proportion of hijab women (16% and 14% respectively) felt these things did happen. Yet, on the important issue of interactions with other students, there was surprisingly little difference between hijab- and non-hijab wearers, 49 per cent and 55 per cent of whom respectively agreed that they felt comfortable.

The centrality of alcohol to western student culture causes discomfort to both male and female Muslims: 'On Orientation the first week, they have barbecues and they have, you know, alcohol. And actually, a lot of students are coming to lectures, like, drunk. I think that's really--it's annoying'.

The earlier analysis, together with interview data, further suggests that female Muslims may experience higher levels of 'cultural discomfort' than the men. The overall analysis, however, provides little evidence that Muslim women, covered or not, feel unwelcome among fellow students at an interpersonal level. In only two instances were there significant differences between the two groups of women, and in both cases the issues seemed to relate to religious facilities. As Table 6 shows, women in hijab were significantly less likely to agree their university met the needs of Muslims. Over a quarter disagreed completely, whereas no uncovered women did so.

Hijab-wearers also tended to be less satisfied with services than those not in hijab. The influence of University of Sydney women may again be affecting results but generally it can be assumed that women who adopt the clothing prescribed by their religion are among the most committed to daily prayer, and that prayer facilities and related services are therefore paramount. If there had been an easy way of identifying the more religious males in the sample, their responses to these two items may well have mirrored those of the hijab women. It therefore appears that although women in hijab face more personal challenges in and out of the university community than uncovered women, it is their personal religious commitment which is salient to them, and which in turn sustains them.

Discussion

According to this study, male and female Muslim students in Australian universities report high levels of academic commitment to and satisfaction with their studies, with few gender differences. Their overall satisfaction with their courses appears in line with that of non-Muslim students (although this requires further exploration), and in some instances exceeds it. However, given that for most of these students their religious obligations are a high personal priority, a number of non-academic factors and issues are affecting their overall attitudes, perceptions and interactions. Foremost among those issues is prayer. Universities in Australia have not always been quick to realise the importance for Muslims (including staff) of daily prayer and congregational prayers on Friday. It is clear from the responses of students in this survey that an institution's failure to provide adequate facilities and services for prayer will negatively affect Muslim students' sense of belonging and of being valued within the university community. Conversely, where a university has funded such facilities, students feel more integrated and supported, although some remain cynical about the push for international student fees driving these decisions. Although women were significantly more likely than men to feel Muslims were undervalued by their institutions, the explanation for this is not clearly a gendered one but rather relates to the characteristics of the sample and the available services for Muslims at the time of the survey in the institution dominating the sample.

In terms of how Muslim students interact with staff and other students, the picture is generally positive, although personal anecdotes provoke reflections on whether we do enough to foster a climate of inclusivity in and out of our classrooms. Overt discrimination on campus is not a major issue although off campus it does affect students' lives, especially since most Australian students commute to their classes. What practising Muslim students find more generally problematic are the challenges presented by a western campus culture in which both alcohol and close male/female contact are part of the landscape within which students interact. A sense of religious dissonance can affect Muslims' sense of belonging, and limit their opportunities to interact. This appears to be particularly so for the women, perhaps because they are identifiable if wearing the hijab. Although the influence of a 'hijab effect' can be suggested, in that women in hijab did appear to feel less positive about their course experiences, the sample size did not allow firm conclusions to be drawn in this respect and further investigation is needed. There is not much evidence (although there is some) that Muslim women are actively made to feel they are 'unwelcome sisters', and no evidence at all that they are underachieving academically.

Among Smith and Schonfeld's (2000) four requirements for effective student interactions with diversity were 'institutional support, equal status, common goals and an opportunity for participants to be seen as individuals'. Our findings reinforce those conclusions, given the perceived importance for our sample of religious facilities, and also the reported effects of the (occasional) 'spotlighting' episodes that students experience at the hands of staff. In terms of Muslim students' perceptions of common goals, and opportunities for them to be seen as individuals, our findings suggest that, although Muslims share academic goals with other students, the campus culture sometimes inhibits them from maximising their social development. And when it comes to their being seen as individuals, the issue of stereotyping does occasionally intervene to the detriment of their learning.

Conclusion

Certain preconceptions regarding Muslims in general, and women in particular, have generally been confounded in this study. We do not claim, however, any exceptionalism for Muslims. A comparison with indigenous students, for example, would be an interesting one, for the strong sense of intra-group solidarity held by both groups seems both to bind them more closely to their peers and to counteract the sense of being victims. In the case of practising Muslims, their faith provides support in times of need, although adhering to that faith can inhibit opportunities for personal interactions. Staff may need to become more aware of such sensitivities in both group and individual interactions. It would also be useful to investigate non-Muslim responses to such interactions.

Although a sample more representative of the whole Muslim student population would clearly have been preferable, the constraints on accessing students according to their religious affiliation is likely to remain a challenge for researchers in this particular field. Given the sampling limitations, plus the lack of published research in this area, it is hoped that the findings in this study will be seen as a basis for further research rather than as definitive.

Our study has pointed to the importance of institutions and staff adopting an integrated approach to the provision of religious facilities alongside a sensitive, flexible approach to teaching and learning practices. This approach will ensure all our students have equal opportunities to enhance and enrich their own learning and that of their peers, free from stereotypical expectations, in a post-September 11 world.

Table 1 Satisfaction with university support and services, by gender
(percentages)

                                            Males    Females    Total
                                            (n=82)   (n=93)    (n=175)

University meets needs of Muslim students
Yes                                           39       27        32
In some ways                                  43       53        48
No                                            18       20        19
Missing                                        0        1         1

I am satisfied with support & services
Yes                                           46       37        41
In some ways                                  43       46        45
No                                            10       16        13
Missing                                        1        1         1

Table 2 Sense of belonging to a university community, by gender
(percentages)

                                              Males   Females    Total
                                             (n=82)   (n=93)    (n=175)

I feel part of a group of students and
staff
Yes                                             63       58        61
In some ways                                    28       33        31
No                                               6        9         7
Missing                                          3        0         1

I am able to explore my academic interests
Yes                                             60       52        55
In some ways                                    35       38        37
No                                               5       11         8

I feel I belong to the university community
Yes                                             37       27        31
In some ways                                    56       61        59
No                                               7       12        10

Table 3 Perceptions of discrimination, by gender (percentages)

                                     Males    Females    Total
                                     (n=82)   (n=93)    (n=175)

People on campus seem negative
towards Muslims
Yes                                    16       12        14
In some ways                           41       55        49
No                                     43       33        38

Women in hijab on campus sometimes
feel unwelcome
Yes                                    24       26        26
In some ways                           29       37        34
No                                     38       38        39
Missing                                 9

People off campus seem negative
towards Muslims
Yes                                    24       25        24
In some ways                           54       62        58
No                                     22       13        17

Table 4 Feeling valued by the university, by gender (percentages)

                                     Males    Females    Total
                                    (n=81)    (n=92)    (n=173)

I feel Muslim students are valued
at this university
Yes                                   41        23        31
In some ways                          41        52        47
No                                    18        25        22

[chi square] = 6.455 df 2 p=0.04

Table 5 Feeling comfortable with non-Muslim students, by gender
(percentages)

                                  Males   Females         Total
                                 (n=82)   (n=93)         (n=175)

I feel comfortable interacting
with non-Muslim students
Yes                                69       50              59
In some ways                       21       31              26
No                                 10       18              14

                                                      [chi square] =
                                                    6.667 df 2 p=0.036

Table 6 Female perceptions of university meeting their needs, by
whether in hijab or not (percentages)

                            Women     Women not
                          in hijab    in hijab        Total women
                           (n=71)      (n=22)            (n=93)

University meets needs
of Muslim students
Yes                          24          36                27
In some ways                 50          64                53
No                           26           0                20
                                                   [chi square]=7.14
                                                      df 2 p=0.028

I am satisfied with
support & services
Yes                          31          55                37
In some ways                 49          41                47
No                           20           4                16

                                                   [chi square]=5.083
                                                      df 2 p=0.079

Acknowledgements

This article is based on a paper given by Christine Asmar and Elizabeth Proude at the Australian Association for Research in Education conference at Fremantle, Western Australia, 2-6 December 2001. The research was funded by a grant from the University of Sydney. We acknowledge the support of the Institute for Teaching and Learning, especially Ben Spiers for setting up the web-based survey. We also thank all the Muslim students and staff who contributed so willingly to the project.

Notes

(1) The Student Course Experience Questionnaire (SCEQ) is an annual survey of undergraduates, derived from the national Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) administered to all graduates in Australia. SCEQ and CEQ items were deliberately replicated in our survey so as to permit comparisons with the broader student population.

(2) Although item wording is nearly identical in the surveys mentioned here, the response categories differed somewhat. Thus our survey respondents answered 'Yes', 'In some ways' or 'No', whereas the SCEQ and CEQ use a five-point scale ranging from 'Strongly agree' to 'Strongly disagree', with a central category of 'Neutral'. In reporting positive perceptions here and in relation to Tables 1 and 2, we have compared our 'Yes' responses with the combined 'Strongly agree' and 'Agree' responses.

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Author

Dr Christine Asmar is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Teaching and Learning, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006. E-mail: [e-mail]

Christine Asmar

Elizabeth Proude

Lici Inge

The University of Sydney