Educational choices in Hungary

Bukodi, Erzsébet (1999) Educational choices in Hungary. Hungarian Statistical Review, 77 (SN3). pp. 71-94. ISSN 0039-0690

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Abstract

This study is devoted to the investigation of the impact of the childhood material and cultural resources of individuals on their schooling successes. To answer research questions concerning educational career, I apply the rational action theory and the cultural reproduction thesis as competing theoretical explanations. These provide the background for interpreting my findings based on a multinomial logit analysis of the school-transition processes of males and females. The reason for applying a multinomial model instead of the traditional Mare’s logit analysis is that the Hungarian school system contains parallel branches of education which can be seen as different alternative career lines with different odds of continuing one’s studies. As for the data, I have used the Hungarian General Youth Survey from 1995 as a source. According to my results when using different characteristics of parents to examine trends in schooling process, I have found that childhood material and cultural capital have a significant and independent impact on educational success. In sum, my findings leave no doubt that in investigating educational careers both the rational action theory and the cultural reproduction thesis are relevant, but a resource transmission process appears to be gendered. Girls are more likely to follow the social reproduction ‘route’, but boys’ choices are controlled by the rational action approach.

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