Multicultural Competence of University Students in Ukraine: Reality and Perspectives

The article deals with the problem of diagnosis and prevention of inter-ethnic conflicts in the students’ environment. The aim of the article is to point out the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of students’ perception of inter-ethnic harmony value and their assessment of social situation in the inter-ethnic context; and to identify the level of multicultural competence of students of higher educational institutions as a factor in the prevention of inter-ethnic conflicts in the students’ environment. The cluster survey was conducted May 11-31,2018 based on 3 universities in Sumy town, n1=382, n2=400, 17 – 23 age group. Methodological basis of the survey is the competence paradigm of social and cultural activity. The total number of standardized methodological approaches was 13 and authors’ methodology was applied. The problem of inter-ethnic conflicts among students of Sumy region is relevant, though it does not reach the average national level (40% and 44% correspondingly). The essence of the multicultural competence as a component of social competence is clarified. The concept of “social competence” is revealed. The valuemotivational block, cognitive block, activity-behavioral block are considered the main components of multicultural competence. The existence of a number of reasons of insufficient formation of the participants’ multicultural competence is defined. The reasons are clarified and substantiated. According to the results of the research, the perspectives concerning solving the problem of insufficient level of Ukrainian students’ multicultural competence (at three levels: legislative, scientific and methodical) are determined.