Komolafe, C., Lukács J, Á., & Dávid, B. (2024). Roma undergraduates’ partner selection and social embeddedness. Intercultural Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2024.2411100 (D1)

 

ABSTRACT

This study investigates Roma undergraduates’ partner selection patterns, examines the main factors in students’ partner selection attitudes, and analyzes the structural role in students’ network. We rely on data from semi-structured life-narratives and contact diaries of 67 Roma undergraduates. Three main partner selection patterns were distinguished among Roma students: (1) Roma and non-Roma partners with low educational attainment, (2) non-Roma partners with secondary or higher education, and (3) Roma partners with secondary or higher education. Partners’ sociodemographic backgrounds show correspondence with the size of students’ egocentric networks and indicates ties from the same social group with higher probability. Our results imply that in the choice between a typically low-status Roma environment and a high-status university environment, or in the delicate balancing act between the two, the chosen partner plays a key role.