The students’ work values in Partium region

Author(s):

Veronika Bocsi(presenting / submitting)Zsuzsanna Markus(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 05 D, Students in Transition and Their Values

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-09

11:00-12:30

Room:

340. [Main]

Chair:

Serap Emil

Contribution

According to some scholars work values belong to the parts of value preferences however the opinion of some researchers is that these values constitute a special value-field (Abu-Saad – Isralowitz 1997). If we try to compare the normal value preferences with the work values in the same sample, we find different shapes and emphases (Bocsi 2014). The intrinsic work values belong to the inner motivation and self-fulfillment. The bases of the extrinsic work values are material and the balancing work, family and free-time is also important (Schwartz 1999, Ester – Braun – Vinken 2006). The phenomenon of the work values can provide ground for comparative research in Europe and we can identify the different poles of the patterns: for example the intrinsic profile is more typical in Northern Europe (Ester – Braun – Vinken 2006). The work values are shaped by several factors, for example the economic situation, the whole system of the culture, the religious orders and the political situation. The ideal socialist man was work-centered in the party state, and the state ideology had got a strong effect on the mindset of the Hungarian people (Füstös – Szakolczai 1999). After the regime changed, people in this area had to cope with several social and economic problems (for example unemployment), and people had to gain new skills in the labour market. Moreover, the pattern of the work values in Hungary seem to be more extrinsic.

Higher education can be linked to the system of the work-values. For example the disciplines and the faculties have got special characteristics (such as social, rational or achievement-oriented) (Knafo and Sagiv 2004), but the position of the majors in the labour market can form the preferences of the students or the employment opportunities can attract students with pragmatic thinking and specific ideas about higher education. The work-values of the Hungarian students are more extrinsic (Keller 2009) and the expectations from the higher education are more pragmatic and practical nowadays in Hungary (Veroszta 2010).

After 1990 several research have been carried about cross-border Hungarian communities. These research show that the national minority status is a most specific social status (Gereben 1999, Beregszászi et al. 2001, Szarka 2008, Papp Z. 2010, Márkus 2015). The cross-border minority Hungarians communities live in a multiethnic and multicultural social context (eg.: religious, economic status and education). Due to the different contexts of people in minority status special responses are given. We compare work values of minority and majority Hungarian and Romanian students in Partium. Empirical findings show that it is worth analysing this communities in cultural context as well.

We suppose when analysing the patterns of the work values of Hungarian minority students, different emphases can be shown. In the minority situation the social and community items are highly appreciated. It seems to be questionable that we will be able to show this orientation in the field of work values or not. The profile of the Hungarian minority higher educational institutions in Romania is unique because there is a lack of science departments (for example engineering departments). The Hungarian minority students and the Romanian subsample live in similar economic enivironment, but the effect of the cultural context can be more significant and this difference can generate a distance between the work values of Romanian and Hungarian minority students.

Method

We used the HERD database in the course of analysis. It belongs to „Higher Education for Regional for Social Cohesion. Cooperative Research and Development in a Cross-border area” HURO Project. Our research area was the Partium – it is a cross-border region among Hungary, Romania and Ukraine. The territory of Patium is not homogenious either geographically or politically. As the latest research have shown that over the last ten years the institutes of higher education in Partium have created an educational region (Pusztai – Torkos 2001, Kozma 2006, Süli-Zakar 2010). The specific feature of this area is the modernisation process set off late, and the mixed ethnic and religious patterns and a special intermediate position between East and West are also characteristic. In 2012 we created a sample including nine higher educational institutions of this area and the analysis concern with the Hungarian, the Romanian and the minority Hungarian students (N=2728). The sample was weighted and various sampling methods were used in the institutions. The Hungarian, Romanian and minority Hungarian students were separeted (N=1275, 473, and 714). The students from the theological majors were removed from the sample because this institutions can be positioned in a special value-field. We mapped the work values with the help of 23 items and the students had to scale these items with a four grade scale. We used different sociodemograpic values too. The aim was to analyse the similarities and differences between these three subsamples. The techniques we applied: the analysis of the means, the positions of the items, factor-analysis and variance-analysis. Before the analysis the followed hypotheses were formulated: - We supposed that the pattern of the work values would be more extrinsic and pragmatic. The current international students analyses show more intrinsic values (for example Duffy – Sedlacek 2007, Khasawneh 2010), but the average Hungarian and Romanian mindset seem to be material (Keller 2009) and we can also observe the signs of the mass higher education and the marketisation. - Concerning the differences between the Hungarian and minority Hungarian work value-patterns we presumed that the career-path will be more dominant in Hungary, and the social items in the transborder minority subsample. - We supposed that effects of the sociodemographic variables were different in the subsamples.

Expected Outcomes

The special literature links intrinsic values to the intellectual work-fields and this attitude is more typical in the higher social strata too but we can find extrinsic items in the first positions of the list. The social items are placed in the middle of the item-list and we can declare that the career-centered work plans are not generally accepted at these universities. We analysed the positions of the items in the subsamples and we identified some differences but the patterns were not unequivocal. In order to light the distances we used factor analysis and identified three factors (classic extrinsic, social and non-monotonous, independent status-oriented). The classic extrinsic work values were more typical in the Hungarian subsample and the rejection of the independent statuts-oriented factor was strong. But this factor was typical in the Romanian subsample. We mapped the effects of the sociodemographic variables and some differences were found. Our hypotheses have only partially been justified. We did not identify clear-cut differences among the positions of the items in the Hungarian and Hungraian minority subsamples and these differences were not associated with social items. The work values do not correspond with the international results also this scheme is rooted in the normal, material value-preferences of this region. The classic extrinsic thinking is more typical in Hungary, and these findings can be related to a special attitude to the work. In this conception the work is a tool for the subsistence and it not related to self-fullfilment or creativity. We suppose that this attitude can form the whole life and career path, and this pattern is relatively far from the achievement-oriented conception of the modernisation or the flexibility of postfordism. The effect of the cultural context was strong because the distance between the Romanian and the transborder Hungarian subsamples was significant.

References

Abu-Saad, Ismael – Isralowitz, Richard E. (1997): Gender as a Determinant of Work Values among University Students in Israel. The Journal of Social Psychology. 137:6. 49-763. Beregszászi Anikó – Csernicskó István – Orosz Ildikó (2001): Nyelv, oktatás, politika. Kárpátaljai Magyar Tanárképző Főiskola: Beregszász. Bocsi Veronika (2014): Töredezettség vagy összefonódás? Értékek a felsőoktatásban. Habilitation thesis. University of Debrecen, Educational Sciences Doctoral Progam: Debrecen. Duffy, Ryan – Sedlacek, William E. (2007): The Work-Values of First Year College Students: Exploring Group Differences. The Career Development Quarterly. 59. June. 359-364. Ester, Peter – Braun, Michael – Vinken, Henk (2006) Eroding Work Values? In: Ester, Peter – Braun, Michael – Mohler Peter (eds.): Globalization, Value Change and Generations. Brill: Leiden. 89-114. Füstös László – Szakolczai Árpád (1999): Kontinuitás és diszkontinuitás az értékpreferenciákban (1977-1998), Sociological Review. 9:3. 54-73. Keller Tamás (2009): Magyarország helye a világ értéktérképén. TÁRKI: Budapest. Khasawneh, Samer (2010) Work Values of Human Resources in Jordan: A Vocational Approach for Predicting Student Success in the Workplace. International Journal of Research in Education. 27:15-36. Knafo, Ariel – Sagiv, Lilach (2004): Values and Work Environment: Mapping 32 Occupations. European Journal of Psychology of Education. 19:3. 255-273. Kozma Tamás (2006): Regionális átalakulás és térségi visszhang. A „partiumi” felsőoktatás esete. In: Juhász Erika (ed): Régió és oktatás. Doktoranduszok Kiss Árpád Közhasznú Egyesülete: Debrecen. 13−25. Márkus Zsuzsanna (2015): Romániai többségi és kisebbségi hallgatók tanulmányi elkötelezettsége. In: Pusztai Gabriella, Kovács Klára (eds.): Ki eredményes a felsőoktatásban? Partium Press: Nagyvárad. (in progress) Papp Z. Attila (2010): Itt és ott: integrációs kihívások a magyarországi kisebbségi és a határon túli magyar oktatásban. Régió. 21:4. 73-108. Pusztai Gabriella – Torkos Katalin (2001): Roma gyerekkor a Partium területén. Educatio 10:3. 584−594. Schwartz, Shalom. H. (1999): A Theory of Cultural Values and some Implications for Work. Applied Psychology: An International Review. 48:1. 23-47. Süli-Zakar István (2010): A Partium régió esélyei a csatlakozás után. In Juhász Erika (szerk.): Harmadfokú képzés, felnőttképzés és regionalizmus. Center for Higher Education and Development Hungary: Debrecen. 15−25. Szarka László (2008): Útkeresés, önszerveződés a rendszerváltás éveiben (1989-1991). In: Bárdi Nándor – Fedinec Csilla– Szarka László (eds.): Kisebbségi magyar közösségek a 20. században. Gondolat Kiadó – MTA Kisebbségkutató Intézet: Budapest. Veroszta Zsuzsanna (2010): Felsőoktatási értékek – hallgatói szemmel. A felsőoktatás küldetésére vonatkozó hallgatói értékstruktrúrák feltárárása. PhD Thesis. Corvinus University of Budapest, Sociological Doctoral School: Budapest.

Author Information

Veronika Bocsi (presenting / submitting)

University of Debrecen

Faculty of Child and Adult Education, Department of Institutional Management and Leadership

Mikepércs

Zsuzsanna Markus (presenting)

University of Debrecen

Doctoral Program

Debrecen

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