The academic experience of Roma students at university

Abstract

Roma People, despite being the main European ethnic minority with over 600 years on the continent, continue to face discrimination and exclusion, par-ticularly impacting their educational achievements. Only 1-4% of Roma have university education, contrasting with 44% of other groups. Likewise, Roma individuals who enter the university system are more likely to drop out due to being non-traditional and/or first-generation students, and facing multiple forms of discrimination such as income, with a particular risk for Roma women attending university. This article is based on the results of the R&D project "UNIROMA" (2019-2022), focused on the Roma population in Spanish universities. Using Communicative Methodology, this research adopted a mixed sequential design with two phases. In the first quantitative phase, 98 responses were obtained from Roma university students. The second phase focused on qualitative data, includ-ing 20 life stories of Roma university students and 15 interviews with national and international experts. This article presents findings on sociodemographic information and the university experience of these students. Results suggest that Roma university students face difficulties related to their home environment, employment situation, and economic resources, impacting their university expe-rience. Balancing studies, work, and family influences their academic dedication, as observed in ethnic minority and first-generation students. Exams create stress and mastering foreign languages is a common challenge. Discussion highlights the need to continue developing measures, especially within the university, to ensure the retention of Roma students, mostly first-generation, to successfully complete their university education.