What do university students think about the roles of intellectuals? Empirical findings of a Hungarian analysis

Bocsi, Veronika (2021) What do university students think about the roles of intellectuals? Empirical findings of a Hungarian analysis. In: 4th International Conference on Research in Humanities and Social Sciences (ICRHS), 2021. május 7-9., Milánó, Olaszország.

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Abstract

There is a debate in the field of social sciences about the role of intellectuals. Several possible directions can be distinguished: professionals, the intelligentsia, and public intellectuals. These types have their own historical, geographical, and political backgrounds. If we regard universities as places in which intellectuals are trained, we must also emphasise the importance of higher education. Despite rich empirical findings, little is known of the theoretical background. In this paper, we use a quantitative method to analyse what university students think about the components of intellectuals’ roles. Our database is based on a nationwide Hungarian student survey from 2017 (N=1502). We created our self-made question block with 18 items, which correspond to the components of intellectuals’ roles. Undergraduates had to then assess these items. We find that students have mixed conceptions in the analysed field. The components of the professional role are strong, in accordance with national educational policies, but other elements are also significant. The features of classical intellectual habitus are also strong (general knowledge, white-collar work, etc.), but the components of public intellectuals and macro-level aims have lower importance.

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