Do education and urbanism really contribute to reduce xenophobia in African societies? evidence from Botswana

This paper examines the relationship between xenophobia and several social-economic factors, focusing on education, in Botswana. Education has moderating influence on discriminatory attitudes and behavior. The academia is vulnerable to discriminatory influences where existing ideas may be deemed threatened by some people. Education should improve the intellectual, social and economic wellbeing of individuals. The results of our study indicate that it has not been quite the case in Botswana. This study is based on primary data from Southern African Migration Project (SAMP), a nationally representative random sample survey of three urban areas (Gaborone, Francistown and Kanye) in June and July 2001. Our results support the theory that education moderates xenophobia. Adjusted odds ratios indicate that people with primary and secondary education were four and two times, respectively, as likely to be xenophobic than those with tertiary education [OR & 95% CI: 4.68(2.60, 8.43); 2.08(1.31, 3.32)]. There was no s...