Perceived discrimination of international visitors to universities in Germany and the UK

The extent to which international students and academics feel discriminated against in the host country was explored in three samples from two countries: students in Germany ( N =161), students in the UK ( N =139), and academics in Germany ( N =79). Respondents completed a measure of perceived discrimination of increasing severity, comprising antilocution (verbal derogation), avoidance, behavioural discrimination, and physical assault. Physical discernibility as foreigner, quality of private contacts with host nationals, and language proficiency were explored as predictors of perceived discrimination. Across the three samples, respondents who were identifiable as foreigners by their appearance reported more discrimination. Positive contacts with host nationals were associated with lower levels of perceived discrimination. Language proficiency predicted perceived antilocution in the two German samples. All samples perceived their personal level of discrimination to be lower than that of their respective in‐groups (international students/academics), but the tendency was moderated by visibility and contact quality.