The Bologna Process as a Trojan Horse: Restructuring Higher Education in Hungary

Abstract

The Bologna Process in HungaryThe author describes the influence of the Bologna Process to the higher education (system and policies) in Hungary.The first results of the cooperation of higher education institutions under EU umbrella, expected as well as unexpected changes in the organizations and cultures of the institutions are examined.The paper is based on empirical researches and findings.Various interpretations of the 'Bologna Process' by different actors of the higher education policy arena in Hungary, their (the actors') various interests and drives are also questioned and described.Debates among policy makers and higher education practicionaires, reflected in the media are presented.Besides, interviews of the leading figures of the Hungarian higher education on the one hand and the labour market on the other create the basis of the research results.These results show the followings.There are significant differences among the relevant higher education actors about the necessity of the Bologna process.The role of the state in higher education as well as the legitimacy of other actors in the higher education policy formation are also debated.These debates go back partly to the different interpretation fo the reform process (mentioned) and partly the different interests on higher education as public or private good.Some of the fightings are caused by a top-down policy shaping system which lacks the necessary social consensus making mechanisms and techniques.To sum up: the Bologna process is a cover name for a radical reform in Hungraian higher education as well as in the entire society.The most vulnerable goups might be the students leaving the (new) system with the new BA or BSc degrees.They seem to be at risk because of the uncertainty of the new degrees (their values for further studies on the one hand and on the labour market on the other).If students of socially disadvantaged groups may leave the system en mass (which is expected by experts and urged by policymakers), than the higher education system may not support the social equality, a social function having been developed after the political transition of 1989/90.

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