Study of attitudes towards diversity

The attitudes of older New Zealanders to immigrants, often the subject of political discussion, are to be studied by a University of Otago student.

Social anthropology student Molly George is undertaking a three-year PhD research project into the topic and wants to find out what the older generations think about immigration, how they are making sense of it, and if they have been affected by it.

The idea came from walking past a book in the library about immigrants and baby-boomers in California.

"I was interested in migration research and ageing research and I was having a hard time deciding which path to take for my PhD. When I saw that book it was like: `Aha'," she said.

New Zealanders aged over 65 had seen great changes in the country in their lifetime, including escalating numbers of increasingly diverse immigrants.

In the 1950s, the Maori and European make-up of the country was influenced by Pacific Island immigration, followed by a sharp increase in Asian immigrants after the Immigration Act of 1987, she said.

For the research, Ms George will conduct interviews with the elderly, and with immigrants, as well as observe how they interact with each other.

These interactions could be observed in churches, volunteer organisations, and in health care, particularly in-home care, as migrants were often home carers and it would be "interesting to see how older people reacted when they were in their home".

While she did not have any preconceived idea about the outcomes of her research, anecdotally, people had told her their grandparents had "a hard time" with or were "really resistant" to immigration.

However, her "very preliminary" interviews had revealed "some rather pleasant stories of interactions".

Ms George hoped to share her completed research through conferences and publications, and possibly through public discussions about immigration.

ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz