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• Student employment and work values across borders - Comparative study of students from two Carpathian Basin universities

  143-153

  Veronika Bocsi

  Csaba Jancsák

  Andor Szőcs

  Views:

  31

  This study examines the correlations between student employment and work values among full-time students at the University of Szeged (SZTE) in Hungary and Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (Sapientia, Romania) in Romania. The research aims to explore whether the propensity for employment and attitudes toward work are primarily shaped by individual value orientations or by structural factors, such as family background and the institutional academic milieu. The empirical basis of the study is a database (N=2078) compiled from two questionnaire-based surveys conducted in 2024. The analysis employs descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and a binary logistic regression model. Findings indicate that the proportion of working students is significantly higher at Sapientia (56.5%) than at the University of Szeged (29.0%). Regarding work values, work-life balance and a positive workplace atmosphere are of paramount importance to students. Based on the regression model, the intention to work is positively influenced by higher paternal educational attainment, as well as by 'stability and work-oriented' and 'socially responsible' value orientations; conversely, gender and socio-economic status did not prove to be significant predictors. The study’s primary conclusion is that student employment today is no longer merely a consequence of financial necessity but a complex phenomenon determined by local factors and value systems. Our research highlights that the act of seeking employment is shaped by complex explanatory variables that should not be reduced solely to social background.

• First Generation Students in the Hungarian Higher Educational System

  53-65

  Veronika Bocsi

  Views:

  393

  The first part of the study attempts to summarise the most frequently used and cited theories and empirical findings in the field of first generation students. The specialist literature has identified those factors (cultural background of family, parents’ special attitude toward learning, the features of the time-budget etc.) which can generate a disadvantageous situation within the higher education system for these students. However, the presence of this group is a significant indicator of the openness of a society and social mobility, and a more careful analysis of this population may reduce the drop-out rate, as well. During the empirical analysis two databases were used (Eurostudent VI, Hungarian Youth Research 2012 and 2016). Our results draw attention to the process of social closure and the decreasing chance of attending higher education for young people from lower social groups. This unfavourable shift can mirror the relatively closed features of Hungarian society, but at the same time it can make the distances among social groups more rigid.