Perception of Discrimination Among the Students of the University of Padua: A Focus on Abrahamic Religions

This study represents the first research on the perception of religious discrimination within a university setting in Italy. It takes a historical approach to the Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - examining their emergence, development and path toward secularization and modernization across centuries to understand the dynamics between religion and discrimination. The field research followed a quantitative and deductive methodology. A self-assisted computer-based survey that included 589 students enrolled at the University of Padua was conducted between May and July 2024, measuring both general and religious discrimination scores alongside the respondents’ demographic attributes. Key findings showed no significant difference in general discrimination between students with or without religious beliefs. However, higher levels of religious discrimination were perceived by Muslim students compared to students professing other religions and by students who always wear religious dress or accessories compared to students who despite having a religious belief do not wear such items. General discrimination scores, instead, were higher in foreign nationals compared to Italian citizens, in females compared to males, in students identifying as “Middle Eastern/North African” compared to those identifying as “White/European” and in older students (26-29 years) compared to the younger students (18-21 years). While religious discrimination among the university students in Padua is revealed to appear predominantly in the form of Islamophobia and against individuals wearing religious dress or accessories, general discrimination, especially toward foreign nationals and female students, also urges further tailored research.