Education, academic program and intergroup attitudes

Plusieurs etudes ont montre l'existence d'une relation positive entre le degre d'instruction et les attitudes intergroupes. Ces resultats suggerent a certains chercheurs que l'education reduit les prejuges mais d'autres soutiennent que les gens les plus instruits ont simplement plus de facilites a cacher leurs prejuges. De facon similaire, si plusieurs considerent que l'education rend les gens plus receptifs a l'ideologie dominante, d'autres maintiennent l'inverse. La presente recherche evalue un modele integrant ces positions apparement contradictoires. Le modele propose que les effets de l'instruction varient en fonction du domaine d'etudes. Alors que les etudiants/etudiantes d'un secteur d'etudes peuvent devenir plus favorables a l'egard d'un groupe social donne, ceux et celles d'un autre domaine peuvent maintenir leur attitude ou devenir plus negatifs a l'egard de ce meme groupe. Le modele presume que l'education constitue un processus de socialisation et que les domaines d'etudes professent des ideologies differentes. Une etude transversale menee aupres de 675 etudiants/etudiantes de trois niveaux scolaires et de trois domaines d'etudes a permis de recueillir des evaluations de sept groupes sociaux. II ressort que les etudiants/etudiantes en sciences sociales sont plus favorables a l'egard des ‘socialistes’a mesure que leur niveau scolaire augmente alors que les etudiants/etudiantes en administration deviennent moins favorables. L'inverse se produit par rapport a l'evaluation des ‘militaires’ et des ‘conservateurs’. Les resultats appuient le modele qui propose un effet differentiel du domaine d'etudes sur les attitudes intergroupes. La discussion souligne les implications de ces resultats pour les recherches etudiant l'incidence de l'instruction sur les attitudes sociales et politiques et pour les theories sociologiques de l'education. Several studies have shown a positive relation between education and intergroup attitudes, with such results usually being taken as evidence that education reduces prejudice. Others have argued that the better-educated simply have a greater ability to disguise their prejudice. Similarly, while many have argued that education increases support for the dominant ideology, others maintain the opposite. The present study tests a model that would permit reconciliation of these seemingly contradictory positions. The model proposes that effects of education on intergroup attitudes will vary as a function of academic discipline. While students in one area of study may become more positive toward a given social group, students in another area may not change or may become more negative toward that same group. The model assumes education is a socialization process and that academic areas differ in the ideology they promulgate. A cross-sectional survey of 675 students at three levels of education, in three fields of study, collected ratings of seven groups. Social science students were found to give more positive ratings to 'socialist as their level of education increased while business students became more negative. The reverse pattern was observed on ratings of 'the military and 'conservatives. The results support the model of differential effects of field of study on intergroup attitudes. The implications for research on the effects of education and for theories regarding the nature of the educational process are discussed.