Students' conceptions of intellectual roles and the effects of higher education

Bocsi, Veronika (2020) Students' conceptions of intellectual roles and the effects of higher education. Bulgarian Journal of Science and Educational Policy, 14 (2). pp. 437-461. ISSN 1313-1958

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Abstract

The link between intellectuals and higher education has never been clear-cut in the past, but nowadays this relationship seems to be made more complicated by notions of the mass higher educational system, the changes in the functions of universities, the utilitarian expectations of students, the features of the labour market and the new emphasis on social stratification. In this study we attempt to describe students’ conceptions regarding intellectual roles and also the effects of higher educational institutions with the help of quantitative research (N=1502). A substantive block of questions was used during this analysis. The scientific literature delineates the possible roles of intellectuals (i.e. professionals, public intellectuals or the intelligentsia). The location of our study is Hungary so this latter type of role can also be important because this type refers to the societies of Eastern Europe. However, the utilitarian expectations and the dominance of a labour-market oriented attitude predict a mixed pattern of students’ conceptions of intellectual roles. The empirical findings verified these mixed patterns in which the professional and classical elements are significant. We can identify the fields which may shape these conceptions. The impacts of the institutional effects seem to be more significant than the effects of sociodemographic variables and some disciplines significantly shape the conceptions as well.

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