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Christianity and the University Experience in Contemporary

England

Kristin Aune

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The Project in Brief

The project explores how the university experience shapes the identities of undergraduate students who self-identify as Christian

Taking university as a site of religious identity construction, performance and negotiation

Multi-site, across selected universities in England (representative sample of HE sector).

Duration: September 2009-August 2012

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Aims

1. To identify the religious beliefs and social values of Christian undergraduates

2. To explore the impact of the university experience – educational, social and religious – on those beliefs and values, and vice versa

3. To identify how organized Christian groups – from chaplaincies to CUs – help students respond to the university experience, and to examine their impact upon cohesion and division within the student body

4. To address implications of these findings for HEIs, government policy, and religious organizations

Questionnaire Survey Case Study Interviews

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Institutional types within the higher education sector

1. Traditional, elite universities

2. Inner-city red-brick universities

3. 1960s campus universities

4. Post-1992 or ‘new’ universities

5. Cathedrals Group universities

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Sampling & participant recruitment

Online survey

Random sample of 3,000 undergraduates from each university (target = 15 universities, 3 in each of the 5 institutional types)

Negotiating access

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Case Studies

Durham University University of LeedsUniversity of Derby

University of Chester University of Kent

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Religious Affiliation

None 36.4%

Buddhism 2%

Christianity 51.8%

Hinduism 1.4%

Islam 2.7%

Judaism 0.7%

Sikhism 0.2%

Other 4.8%

To which religion or spiritual tradition do you currently belong? Please choose the one that fits best.

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Research context

‘What is your religion?’ 72% in 2001 UK Census ticked ‘Christian’

‘Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?’ 44% said they were Christian in 2009 British Social Attitudes survey

6% attending church on a typical Sunday in 2005 English Church Attendance survey

Is the UK experiencing secularization? Callum Brown, David Voas & Steve Bruce Secularization: ‘the process whereby religious thinking, practices

and institutions lose social significance’ (Wilson 1966 Religion in Secular Society, Penguin, p.xiv)

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Voas & Crockett on young people & Christian decline

1990s British Household Panel survey: decline in affiliation, belief & attendance

Each age cohort is less religious than the last

Explanations: fertility rates & failure of religious socialization in the family

Young people are the least religious group Voas, D. & Crockett, A. (2005) ‘Religion in Britain: Neither

Believing nor Belonging’, Sociology, 39(1): 11-28

Counter arguments

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Religious, Spiritual or Neither?

Generally speaking, do you consider yourself to be...

Religious 39.5%

Not religious but spiritual 30%

Not religious or spiritual 16%

Not sure 14.5%

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During university vacations, I attend church services

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When I am at university, I attend church services

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Since attending university, how has your perspective on religion changed?

I have become more religious since being at university

15%

I have become less religious since being at university

13%

My perspective has generally stayed the same

69%

I am not sure 3%

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‘In your view, and in your own words, what does it mean to be a Christian?’

Seven themes

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Christian belief

‘To believe and have faith in Jesus Christ and God our father who we will live with once again.’ (black African female, 21, Derby)

‘To believe in God and try your best to be the best person you can be while following Christian beliefs of everyone is your neighbour’ (white female, 20, Sheffield)

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Christian practice: good, ethical & moral conduct

‘Live a life helping others and not seeking personal gain by capitulating to avarice and greed’ (white male, 26, Kent)

‘Being a good person’ (white female, 22, Kent)

‘To try and live by Christian values, to love everyone and love God. To try to do good and reject evil in your own individual life.’ (white & Asian female, 20, Sheffield)

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Christian practice: churchgoing, Christian rites & mission

‘To live each day in a manner worthy of Christ, to glorify his name, and to spread the gospel’ (white male, 20, Cambridge)

‘being baptised in the name of Jesus Christ’ (black African female, 26+, Canterbury Christ Church)

‘To get married in a church (unfortunately that's all)’ (white female, 26+, Canterbury Christ Church)

‘To be part of a religious community’ (white & Asian male, 19, Cambridge)

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Christian practice: following God, Jesus &/or the Bible

‘Following and committing, having a positive Christian presence around others, sharing your faith if people ask, and having morals and belief in the truth in the Bible’ (white female, 18, Winchester)

‘To be committed to Christ and to constantly strive to walk in the light. To persevere’ (white male, 20, Cambridge)

‘It means to follow your religion and do as the Bible says to do. It is about following the 10 commandments, being a good person and not judging others. I also feel being a Christian does not mean that you must preach about your Christianity to everyone and anyone, I feel if someone is interested, it is your job to tell them what you believe but not to forcefully tell people.’ (white female, 19, Derby)

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Experiential Christian spirituality

‘To be a Christian is to have a personal relationship with God – to discuss your daily life with him, and to allow him to guide you in the choices you make. It is similar to a relationship between friends, or as a father and child. Each person’s relationship with God varies, but all true Christians will share an underlying feeling of love and patience’ (white female, 20, Kent)

‘It is a way of life, not just a Sunday thing. I enjoy having a daily cup of tea with Jesus and a chat’ (white female, 26+, Kent)

‘Having someone to always turn to when you need to in God and that your religious beliefs should not be proven by attending church on a regular basis’ (white female, 21, Winchester)

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Subjective spirituality

‘to have faith in something you are constantly working to understand, something to base your principles on.’ (white male, 20, Winchester)

‘It doesn’t matter what you believe in, so long as you believe in it’ (white male, 21, Kent)

‘To have faith in the idea that life is not without meaning, there is universal balance to the world we live in. Act responsibly and take responsibility for your own actions. Whether or not there is a God this is your chance to make a difference for the better’ (black African male, 23, Derby)

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Scepticism, cynicism & uncertainty

‘Oppression’ (other white mixed ethnicity female, 19, Cambridge)

‘It means that you have been indoctrinated with a belief that is irrational, dangerous and has been used throughout history, by powerful men and women, to control the masses and justify evil doings’ (white male, 20, Durham)

‘Honestly, the only things I participate in that are remotely Christian are eating Easter eggs and opening presents on Christmas day, and the Christian aspect of both these events is generally lost’ (white female, 20, UCL)

‘To me it means very little. I was brought up as a Catholic, attended a Catholic school but due to things that have happened in my life I am agnostic. I think religion can be comforting for those who have it but for me being a Christian means nothing.’ (white female, 19, Durham)

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In your view, and in your own words, what does it mean to be a Christian?

% of Christians identifying each theme (N = 2337)

Christian Belief 33%

Christian Practice: Good, Ethical & Moral Conduct

29%

Christian Practice: Following God, Jesus &/or the Bible

28%

Experiential Christian spirituality 23.5%

Scepticism, cynicism & uncertainty 11%

Subjective Spirituality 9%

Christian Practice: Churchgoing, Christian rites & mission

8%

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Conclusions

A significant proportion of students – nearly half – affiliate in some way to Christianity

For most, Christianity is a relatively stable identity during university A minority of Christian students retain ‘Christian’ only as a label

(denoting family history, culture, tradition, national identity etc.) A minority express a subjective or agnostic form of Christianity A minority see church-related activities as central to their faith Larger proportions express forms of Christianity centred around:

Christian belief; following God, Jesus and/or the Bible; good, ethical & moral conduct; & an experiential faith

Emphasis on Christianity as practice

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Questions

How does Christianity retain its significance for students who don’t attend church?

Is this ‘vicarious religion’? (Davie 2007, 2010)

How do discourses about Christianity, the secular & the university experience shape students’ subjectivities?

What significance do embodied practices hold? How is students’ religious habitus formed and sustained?

How should we measure religiosity, when existing frameworks neglect some of the aspects of religion that matter to students? Tweed, T. 2006 Crossing and Dwelling, Harvard University Press

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Ethnicity and Class in the Christian student experience:

questions

How significant are class & ethnicity in shaping Christian students’ university experiences?

Does Christianity help students reinforce or challenge social divisions and inequalities?

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Social class

Survey findings: little evidence that class shapes religiosity, apart from: Students with highly educated parents exhibit more religious

change during university

Interview data: class does, at times, figure

Class as a ‘zombie category’ (Beck)

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Durham University

“I think your classic Durham student is 18 to 21, white, middle class, probably – I don’t know about their religious beliefs, you know, probably nominally Christian. Their upbringing probably, yeah, upper middle class. …I mean obviously there is a diversity, that is a massive generalisation. But at the same time… I was surprised when I came how many people there were that had had a very similar upbringing to I’d had, I suppose.” (Students’ Union officer)

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Durham churches

“They’re very kind of tight-knit communities. …if you become a Christian they’ll make sure that you’ve got support…that you’re kept in contact with so that if you’re struggling you’ve got that support. It is, it’s very networked – so for instance I’m living with two Iwerne [camp] girls this year and they’ll have prayer meetings, they’ll have reunions… a Iwerne kind of staff member will come up to Durham once a term, twice a term, to check that everyone’s okay… that the kind of new students are being kept up with, they’re being looked after. So it is very, very intense” (Lia, Durham)

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Durham churches

The charismatic revivalist church: “for the uber cool Christians who I would say are probably middle to upper class too. People who took gap years and […] so kind of that’s uber cool, really, kind of really attractive people.” (Lia)

The ‘family churches’: “we tend to get… more kids from comprehensives and middle middle-class, rather than the more affluent students, which is an interesting thing.” (Pastor)

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Ethnicity

Ethnic minority White

Church attendance before university

87.6% 65.5%

Religious change since starting university:

More religious

About the same

Less religious (since beginning university)

23.2%

60.3%

16.5%

12.5%

77.2%

10.4%

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Ethnic minority White

Involved in one or more student-based &/or church-based Christian activity

40% 23%

‘The university chaplaincy and/or one of the university chaplains has been central to my experience while at university’

16.3% 6.3%

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Racial segregation on campus?

USA: Kim (2006); Park (2012): being Protestant or Jewish was negatively related to interracial friendship on campus

Radical Youth: ‘1. To provide support that reflects the multi cultural diversity within

University; 2. To offer spiritual and personal support to all students individually; 3. To offer the opportunity for prayer, discussion or/and celebration of Christian faith; and 4. To enable students to support each other by offering meeting places and events’

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“I think it’s probably because black students will come from a Pentecostal background and the white students will come from maybe Catholic and stuff like that. So I think even the ways of life differ because they will say, “Okay, we’re okay to –” they’ll go raving and maybe the black students will say, “You can’t go raving.” It’s like different altogether.” (Faith, Derby)

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“I just thought this is supposed to be church, even though it’s not called church and we’re suppose to be a big happy family. And if I don’t feel welcome, that’s not really right but I kept going, so I did try and persevere with it because I was just like maybe that’s just me being a bit paranoid or something. I just couldn’t fit in and I wasn’t the only one. And the fact that I was basically the only black person there as well was really weird so I was just like, this is even harder.” (Nia)

“It’s so international and even if you’re racist, you’re going to have to hide your racism. It’s so international that wherever you walk, you can see people from different places. Some people are quite open-minded. I don’t really feel any racism or anything on campus. It’s alright actually.” (Lisha, Kent)

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“When I come to England, I realised that faith matters are personal issues. I later learnt because back at home it is not uncommon for you meet a neighbour, you sit with someone, say “Is it okay if I share with you about Jesus” and they wouldn’t take it as an offence or something. But when I came here, I went to [further education college] and I was trying to inform [someone, but they were] like “It’s an offence to talk about God and just kept saying “It’s a personal issue, please keep it to yourself” and so eventually I came to learn that it’s hard in academia here. So unless I find someone who identifies, they might have an interest in Christianity, I don’t bring it up.” (Abedi, Leeds).

Religion can facilitate intercultural transitions, but not always

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Social capital

‘the resources individuals and collectives derive from their social networks. Social capital is not an “object” but rather a set of interactions and relationships based on trust and reciprocity that have the potential to be transformative.’ (Weller 2010)

‘connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them’; ‘social contacts affect the productivity of individuals and groups’ (Putnam 2000)

‘Bonding’ vs ‘bridging’ social capital ‘Bridging social capital can generate broader identities and reciprocity,

whereas bonding social capital bolsters our narrower selves’ (Putnam 2000)

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Have you done any voluntary work during the past 12 months in any of the following areas?’, percentage answering ‘yes’ (weighted)

Political activities

Charitable activities

Religious & church-related activities

I have not been involved in any voluntary work

Christians (N=2,233

6.3% 38.9% 32.3% 42.5%

No religion (N=1,475)

8.2% 34.8% 1.2% 60.7%

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Examples of volunteer work

Religious volunteering: Brownies, Girl Guides, Scouts, Christian Union leader, church children’s

club/ Sunday School, Christian holiday club, stewarding at Christian festivals, overseas Christian Aid project, homelessness project, giving out non-alcoholic drinks outside Students Union/ night club, overseas mission work.

Gap years for Christian youth, community work, arts projects or holiday companies

Charitable volunteering: air cadets, drama work for domestic violence charity, university welfare rep,

Camp America, Guide Dogs, university open days, university Rag society, charity collecting

Political volunteering: environmental protests, tuition fee protests, boycotts, anti-sweatshop

campaigns, fair trade.

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Bridging social capital

“I have worked in both Christian and LGBT and have existed in both Christian and LGBT communities; …automatically within both communities I am the odd one out. I am in a minority. The fact that I dress in strange clothes is my own choice but it doesn’t help” (Alicia, Derby)

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Conclusions

Class & ethnicity shape the Christian student experience

Student Christianity reinforces & challenges social inequalities

Bonding & bridging social capital were evident But slightly more bonding capital evident

‘religious youth groups appear to be a microcosm of larger insider-outsider group dynamics, and these dynamics influence how religious youth groups function. That the groups in question happen to be religious in nature does not exclude them from these typical insider-outsider dynamics’ (Herzog & Wedow 2012)

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