Perceptions of female Muslim students who veil: campus religious climate

This article is based on a small qualitative case study that examined the perceptions of undergraduate Muslim American and Muslim international female students regarding the campus religious climate in a predominantly Christian four‐year research university. Specifically, it seeks to understand the opportunities and challenges of female Muslim students who veil on campus during their college years. Due to the small sample size, findings should be taken as indicative rather than definitive. Findings indicate that despite the fact that female Muslim students who veil perceive the campus religious climate welcoming to a certain extent, they still experience feelings of mild exclusion and marginalization. The findings indicate that the perceptions related to campus religious climate for Muslim American and Muslim International students are similar. This study reveals that religiously diverse students, specifically Muslim veiled women, share some of the same experience as culturally and ethnically diverse students. There is much that higher education institutions can do to provide support to this population of students such as accumulating knowledge regarding the needs of these students so the institutions are equipped to provide support and able to assist these students in finishing their degree programmes.