One way to boost them is by using roommate assignments

May 29, 2009 10:09 GMT  ·  By
Rommates of different races tend to make more friends within the first year of collage than same-race ones, a new study shows
   Rommates of different races tend to make more friends within the first year of collage than same-race ones, a new study shows

Going to college can be a pretty rough experience for anyone, especially when considering all the different values, beliefs, races and ethnicities that young men and women will experience over night. Making new friends is very important, especially in the first year, but a new study shows that, while White teenagers are generally able to do that, making new friends relatively easily, Black students tend to lose a few over the course of the first year of studies. The recent investigation also revealed the fact that people in both groups were more open to one another if, for example, a White and a Black student were assigned to be roommates.

“White and black students tend to have the majority of friends of the same race,” Ohio State University (OSU) Assistant Professor of Sociology Claudia Buchmann explained. The expert has also been the co-author of a new study detailing the finds, published in the current issue of the journal Sociology of Education.

She added that the expression “birds of a feather flock together” held true in college as well, at least in the first few months, if not for good. “The close ties that college students form when they live together in residence halls seem to break down the racial barriers better than any other experience in college. Just having diversity in classrooms is not enough to encourage interracial friendships. Residence halls are a key,” she shared.

“If you're in a single room, you're likely to interact with others in your residence hall, and that means you'll be exposed to students of other races. But if you have a same-race roommate, you may not have a reason to expand your network,” Buchmann told.

She also underlined another issue with college life. “Many of the fraternities and sororities are predominantly white, so those who join don't get the chance to meet a diverse group of students. Colleges need to find ways to create opportunities for students to expand their horizons and encourage them to break out of the familiar and comfortable. One way they can do that is by having random roommate assignments that will ensure that some students will have a different-race roommate,” the expert maintained.

The study also revealed that Black students, for instance, tended to “cocoon” themselves with people of their own race when they first reached college, mostly because they had to become accustomed to the idea of a largely White-dominated institution. Buchmann said that this type of attitude should be discouraged by the management, which should take active steps to ensure that everyone fit in nicely. The research was conducted at an elite private school in the US.