Abstract: Relying on an interview-based research conducted in Romania’s Szeklerland area, in settlements with a significant Roma population where the majority of the inhabitants are of Hungarian ethnicity, the present study investigates the non-Roma rural élites’ attitude towards the local Roma population. The regional relevance of the topic is indicated by the fact that the importance of the Roma population’s social integration is present in social publicity, while at the same time the three decades following the 1989 socio-political turn in Romania witnessed only a few attempts at the planning and launching of programmes aimed at the Roma population’s social integration. In the course of the past three decades, the regional institutions and élites have repeatedly shuffled off the professional thematization and practical addressing of this issue, whereas in principle they emphasized the importance of social integration. This study aims to explore some of the components making up the background of the above-outlined ambivalent attitude. With the script analysis method, we intend to look into what scripts rural elite actors adopt in building the narratives on the Hungarian–Roma attitude and what role this narrative creation has in the case of the élite belonging to the Hungarian ethnic majority. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The paper addresses the issue of contamination fear within the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The everyday lives and feelings of the ethnic Hungarian population in Transylvania, Romania, were investigated with an online survey in the middle of the lockdown, in April 2020. In the search for the socioeconomic and demographic determinants of perceived infection risk, we rely on descriptive and two-variable analysis as well as explanatory regression models controlling for covariates. The results show that respondents perceive public places to hold the highest risk of contamination from the virus. In the article, we also draw the sociodemographic profile of the “fearful” and “brave” attitudes towards the threat represented by the virus. Perceived infection risk is higher for the elderly, the more educated, and the non-religious people. The paper reveals that respondents’ concerns, beyond that of infection, are predominantly economic in character. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The greatest challenge of the 21st century is to recreate the disturbed balance between people and their environment. The functioning of the changed global system warns us about the multiplying of today’s global and local problems, which are affecting the world’s population. International organizations deal with this issue. In their opinion, environmental education and environmentally conscious thinking can be a way out of the crisis. The efficiency of environmental education is influenced by the ratio of theory and practice as well as the appropriately applied teaching methods, which is confirmed by the experience of the Ecology and Environmental Protection in Kindergarten course of the Benedek Elek Faculty of Pedagogy at the University of Sopron, Hungary. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Cross-national studies emphasized that female entrepreneurs have experienced a major decrease in income, and there was a decline in market demand as well. The pandemic crisis increased the workload of women, and mainly those who raise small children did not have much choice: they had to invest time and energy in the family. The success of the strategy that could be used during this period lays on the success of balancing the family–work conflict. The following research is based on an online questionnaire that collected responses and data between 2 April and 20 May 2020. Our questions focused on the situation caused by the pandemic, so that through this online survey we aimed to determine how women entrepreneurs in Transylvania coped with the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to get information regarding the financial reserves of the firms owned by female entrepreneurs, but also regarding the human resource reserves of these firms. We also aimed at learning if the pandemic period had an impact on the promoting and marketing practice of the firms and on their sale activities as well as whether there were any changes occurred due to the pandemic. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Although gender gap in the field of entrepreneurship is slowly decreasing globally and there is a consensus about the vital role of female entrepreneurs in the economy, the ratio of female entrepreneurs remains still below that of the male. Empirical research conducted by HETFA Research Institute reveals important findings regarding the situation, challenges, and strategies of female entrepreneurs. Among others, there are some particular themes and features which are more apparent in the case of female entrepreneurs than in that of men such as the lack of self-confidence, lower level of motivation, lack of a supporting environment, lower level of self-assessment as well as greater frequency of solo entrepreneurship, and working part time. As for starting and maintaining a business, entrepreneurship-related skills, knowledge, and mindset, opportunities for networking, support from peers as well as supportive environment are among the highly esteemed factors by female entrepreneurs already in business.This is what the project ifempower aimed to address by not only developing a university curriculum and innovative teaching material but backing them with a mentorship programme and an intensive training programme. ifempower was built on a complex approach with special emphasis given to the development of soft and hard skills, entrepreneurial mindset, networking skills, and supporting female students as potential entrepreneurs in meeting their aims. By piloting the activities in partner countries and then incorporating the lessons learnt into the project outputs, the project placed significant focus on ensuring their uptake by other entities in the higher education sector and beyond. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: This article explores female entrepreneurs’ picture of self in the gaze of others. It relies on the narratives of female business owners gained via semi-structured interviews and focus groups, compiled in the framework of an international research project (iFEMPOWER)1 in Austria. The study reveals that the imagined and perceived gaze of others has a significant power on how businesswomen define both their professional and personal self and how they evaluate their self-worth. The gaze of others becomes a signifier of shame (for not being enough or being too much). The results of this study contribute to a more complex understanding of female entrepreneurship, and with the interdisciplinary character it aims at shaping the contemporary discourse on the gendered entrepreneurial sector. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Our paper contributes to studies on the enduring underrepresentation of women in elite positions through the analysis of elite members’ and their partners’ narratives on career and partnership. Using a dataset of 34 individual interviews (17 couples) among Hungary’s political, economic, and cultural elite, we explore how narrators project themselves in the context of their marital relationships and family roles. We identify three pairs of narratives during our analysis. Narratives show the positions from where narrators discuss the theme of career and partnership as elite member/partner, power couple/non-power couple, and male/female. Our findings show that narrative positioning is significantly gendered, and it is strongly connected to the traditional gendered role system. Having an elite position or pursuing a career calls for explanation only from women. In the meantime, a non-power couple position calls for explanation from men, which suggests the increasing presence of the norm of equality in the Hungarian elite. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: As Leonidas Donskis (2016: 9) once wrote, “Europe has been saved many times by its narrative powers”. In this time of uncertainty and disasters, our public narratives are filled with gossips, conspiracies, intolerance, and hate speech that strengthen divisions in society. During pandemic lockdowns, when physical closeness is exchanged with social interactions online and when global identities and culture are uploaded on digital platforms, we ask: what does it mean to be European in a time of uncertainty and what binds our collective identities and helps us to overcome our fears and anxieties' Considering the past and present (2008–2020) global and European economic, political, healthcare, and cultural as well as personal crises, this auto-ethnographic essay raises these questions: How can personal narratives help to strengthen European cultural identity in these times of uncertainty' Do personal narratives weaken collective identities' By using an auto-ethnographic approach, this paper is an attempt to determine whether a holistic research approach can be used in the analysis of “liquid” European cultural identity and personal narratives. Therefore, this paper is not just for finding the right answers or right stories but is meant to act rather as a stepping stone for further discussion on how to communicate European cultural identity and how to raise self-identification, cultural solidarity, and unity during these times of uncertainty. PubDate: Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Relying on an interview-based research carried out in the Szeklerland region (Romania), the present study investigates the social embeddedness patterns of innovative agricultural initiatives existing in rural areas. The analysis covers three areas: structural embeddedness patterns of local scale, practical initiatives strengthening social embeddedness, and ideas of innovative actors on their future role within the local community. The innovative agricultural actors included in the analysis are local agents who attempt to position themselves and their activities on a local scale amidst diffuse and constantly changing conditions. The specific forms of embeddedness under scrutiny here indicate that innovative actors and practices form part of the local community mostly on the structural level, functionally making their presence felt to a lesser extent. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The analysis presents some of the results of an online survey regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which was undertaken among ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania. The survey was based on a convenience sample and was realized between 16 and 26 April 2020, so during a specific period of the lockdown. Among others, the questionnaire asked the respondents about the degree in which the post-pandemic world would change. The answers to the question show that nearly three quarters of the respondents think that the world will not change at all or it will suffer only minor changes. Those who are more prone towards seeing a totally or a majorly changed world are in a minority. We assume that this situation could reflect a wishful thinking in front of an uncertain context. The regression analysis showed that respondents’ opinion regarding the change can be only marginally predicted by the selected independent variables. Men, those holding materialistic values, are significantly less convinced that the world will suffer major/total changes. On the other hand, trust in several institutions raises the odds of formulating the opinion that the post-pandemic world will be considerably changed. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The study is reflecting on the nature and features of social work with families with children, attempting to discuss social work as assistance and apprehension and to detect whether there is any causal link between the efficiency of social work and the narrative approach and the “unstoried”, “faceless” condition of the families. We argue that professional attitude aimed at providing child protection support is not possible without knowing the story of families with children. Without a helping attitude, no real social work is possible, and thus the client remains invisible and faceless in the process of child welfare or child protection interventions. Besides the actual situations of story-based intervention in social work (micro level), narrativity is also important for the transparent and adequate functioning of the system (mezzo level); moreover, it can become a factor of paradigm shift in social and political discourse on social work and its target groups (macro level). The study is based on the research entitled Child Protection Trends Supporting Children’s Well-Being carried out within the Research Scholarship granted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2017–2020). The research focused on the family concept of child protection professionals and their views of the clients that can be deducted from this concept. The research also examines the notion and functions of the family from the viewpoint of children, young people and their parents as well as the professional attitudes and interventions determined by these perceptions. Research results show that due to the diversity and complexity of the problems of families in the purview of the child protection system one cannot reflect on professional solutions along types of problems. Successful functioning and efficient child protection rely rather on revealing individual and specific needs. All this indicates that child welfare and child protection work is possible only if built on personal stories. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Following a short review on the importance and challenges of digital education, we review some of the findings of a study which we conducted on the basis of an online survey among students of the teacher-training programme at the University of Debrecen (for the purposes of a pilot project) in 2019. The 75 respondents were between 18 and 23 years of age and mostly students of humanities and natural sciences. The survey is obviously not representative, its function being to serve as a ground of a pilot survey to further our work and to extend it to other universities. Among others, the results show that 62.7% of the students learnt the use of digital tools by self-improvement; the majority of future teachers (85.3%) are willing and motivated to use ICT tools in the context of education. The question regarding the importance of reading in a digital world showed that almost each of the respondents considered reading to remain an important activity. In order to make reading attractive, respondents emphasized the need to renew compulsory literature and to use digital tools for reading. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: This study is focused on the relationship between the youth and other social groups based on the data of the GeneZYs 2019 study. The study asked 15–29-year-olds from four countries regarding how appealing or unappealing they feel 24 different social groups. Research results show that several social groups, e.g., homosexuals, migrants/refugees, skinheads, drug users, are especially perceived as relatively repulsive/distasteful by the youth of the studied countries. Starting from theoretical and empirical antecedents, the author presumed that the low level of openness among the youth could be explained by several factors such as socio-demographic background, religiosity, value orientation, and sources of information. Based on empirical results, the author takes an analytical approach on the population under study. The goal of the study is to exceed the level of a partial analysis and to explore a typology while redefining the relationship between the motivation factors of prejudices. The hypotheses were partially confirmed. Compared to the author’s expectations, the typology of young people based on their attitudes towards otherness seems to be harder to explain. Three groups were identified: a smaller one which feels others being appealing, a larger one with a neutral attitude towards others and which sympathizes less with Hungarian groups than the average, and a mediumsized third group which dislikes otherness. From the characterization of the groups, one can discover that among those who dislike otherness, the overrepresented categories are: men, young people from rural areas, those who finished secondary education level, those economically active, young people from Ukraine, atheists, those who did not study abroad, people who suffered from discrimination experiences, young people with regional Hungarian and/or Hungarian identity, people who are not satisfied with the national economy and interethnic relations, and those who see the future in a pessimistic way. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The article discusses the analysis of the available resources in the Pro Educatione Network of Adult Education and Training. The study unveils the provided human resources, economic potential, organizational capacities and relationships as well as the surplus by the network of the 15 adult education organizations. The results show that networking brings access to different resources for network members. Half of the network member organizations affirm intense relationships, i.e. they often call for the collaboration of network member organizations for their adult education and training programmes, and significant co-creation activities are taking place. Despite the fact that several network member organizations have limited resources for the operation of adult education, they achieve significant efficiency; in other words, they can reach out to a considerable number of adult learners through their education and training programmes. The analysis identified passive, moderately active, and very active network members. It also identified areas with deficits in networking. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Similarly to other countries in the Eastern European Region, the situation of medical assistants in Romania is fairly difficult. Due to the lack of personnel, health professionals are typically overwhelmed with work. The Quality of Life Research Centre at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania conducted a non-representative survey among medical assistants in Romanian state-owned healthcare institutions. The sample size is 312 Romanian and Hungarian speaking nurses from six counties. The present study problematizes the mental health of medical assistants, more precisely burnout and depression, along demographic, social, and labour market features. The determinants of burnout and depression are being searched for among these structural and situational variables, and their controlled impact is being assessed with linear regression. Results indicate an excessive risk of burnout and depression for nurses with lower-qualification working in outpatient care. Differences in the mental health of medical assistants echo to a large extent social inequalities, so that controlled for covariates, household income has a significant impact upon burnout and depression. From demographic agents, the protective effect of partnership is outstanding, and the number of supportive relationships is a protective factor of its own right against both burnout and depression. Female assistants are more at risk for depression but not for burnout, whereas workload increases the risk of burnout but not of depression. The analysis takes sides of the distinctness of burnout and depression. Although both syndromes are largely influenced by social features, burnout seems to be more situationally influenced whereas depression more structurally affected. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The purpose of the article is to give an overall description of the situation of Hungarian minority households with children in Ukrainian villages. The region is a marginal area both economically and geographically, being in a peripheral position with little attention falling upon it and even less of the development sources. Furthermore, there is a lack of information on welfare benefits, and no direct statistical data are available on the characteristics of the social policy system. PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT
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