"WALKING AGAINST THE WIND": EXPERIENCES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the experiences of racial discrimination among university students, using their age groups as a parameter. This is an exploratory, descriptive, and cross-sectional study, with a sample of 751 participants. The students were mostly female, 52.5%; with a mean age of 22.8 years; being of predominantly brown race, 58.5%; with the predominant marital status of singles, with 88.7%; the family income of one to two salaries, representing 36.9%. Those aged between 18 and 19 years were the ones who most accepted unfair treatment about racial discrimination as something that is part of life (32.1%) and members of the age group between 22 and 23 years old were the ones who most tried to do something about this unfair treatment (79.8%). Those in the age group over 30 years reported that they had experienced discrimination because of race, ethnicity, or color (50%) and those who were most concerned in the last year about experiences of unfair treatment because of race or skin color corresponded to 66.7%, with the age group that most filed police complaints because of racial discrimination being 18 or 19 years old (2.4%). In this way, racial discrimination is a phenomenon that affects university students, so it needs to be more debated.