MTA Közoktatás-fejlesztési Kutatási Program „Oktatási esélyekért!” Pályaorientációs
mentorprogram...(SZKF-11/2021 MTA-PTE)
As a result of the expansion of higher education, the student population is becoming
more diversified, with students who are the first in their families and communities
to undertake a university degree. Minorities defined as Roma have been an integral
part of Europe since the Middle Ages, but their educational attainment lags behind
the general population, and they are still under-represented in higher education.
The study analyses the perceptions of mostly Roma students who are on the path of
social mobility in their formal education and the non-formal community (Roma student
societies) that provides targeted support for their academic progress. The study involved
the members of the network of Roma student societies in Hungarian universities in
questionnaire format research (N=300, n=182). In this study, the implicit ideas of
the participants about the university and the Roma student societies are inquired
into, exploring the similarities and differences in the function of the two institutions,
and analysing the role of the Roma student society in social mobility. The data were
processed using a qualitative analysis strategy, thematic coding. The results shed
light on the functions of the university, which is a formal space, and the Roma student
society, which is a non-formal socialization space. The university was associated
with formal learning and socialisation, while the Roma student society was associated
with experiential, action-oriented, non-formal space. The respondents perceived the
university, but especially the student society, as a positive experience. Our study
reveals the perceptions of the pedagogical programme of the Roma student societies.
The Roma student society is compared to the relationships experienced in a family;
the Roma student society is seen as a continuum of the sense of security provided
by the family. Through the responses of Roma students, this study highlights that
non-formal small communities in universities are effective means for the successful
advancement of underrepresented groups in higher education, which supports a positive
experience of their mobility.
