Perverse Effects of Change in the Romanian Academic Field
Autori:
Dumitru STAN
Cod: ISSN: 1583-3410 (print), ISSN: 1584-5397 (electronic)
Dimensiuni: pp. 183-203
How to cite this article:Stan, D. (2015). Perverse Effects of Change in the Romanian Academic Field. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 48, 183-203. |
Abstract:
According to the conclusions of a sociological research carried out almost two
decades ago, for a person to become part of the Romanian society’s elite, one had
to be a university graduate. Anyone who succeeded in getting remarkable results
in economy, sports, music, politics, etc., was recognized as a rightful member of
the elite only if she/he was also a university graduate. At that time, the higher
education system in Romania was functioning, to a large extent, on the organizational
and scientific bases established before 1990. Since then, all levels of
the national educational system were reformed, including the university, based on
the idea that the country’s social improvement depends primarily on the quality of
education received by young generations. In order to assess the value of higher
education reforms and to establish whether the university continues to be viewed
as a generator of Romanian elites, we revised several aspects of the aforementioned
research in a new investigation. The results reflect again the positive image
that university students and teaching staff have about themselves and about the
socio-cultural responsibilities of higher education institutions. Unlike the previous
research, ours found out two very frequent criticisms in the subjects’ answers: a.
the crisis within the university is about to become as severe as the other types of
crisis in the social system; b. as the social recognition of the university graduate
diminishes, so do the elite status and the people’s trust in the potential of the
university, while the university’s crisis deepens.
Keywords:
university crisis, cultural capital, transition, the university’s fundamental mission, academic excellence, anti-crisis reactions, perverse effect.
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