National Minorities in Serbian Academia : The Role of Gender and Language Barriers

This book offers an intersectional analysis of secondary and tertiary educational pathways of ethnic Hungarians, Romanians and Slovaks in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. After a detailed overview of the legal and institutional context of national minority education in Serbia, the book presents qualitative and quantitative research results to illuminate the often invisible linguistic and cultural barriers that national minority high school graduates, university students and faculty may encounter. The author also focuses on the position of national minority women in Serbian higher education and academia, shedding light on the very gendered nature of the ‘glass ceiling’ that often holds members of national minority communities back from career building. This book will be of interest to policymakers seeking nuanced interpretations of multifocal inequalities, as well as academics in fields such as gender studies, migration studies, minority languages and communities, and the sociology of education. Acknowledgements Contents List of Tables 1 Introduction: Intersectionality as a Lived Experience 1.1 Vojvodina as a Multi-Ethnic Region 1.2 Women as the Invisible Others 1.3 Ethnic Minorities in Vojvodina—An Intersectional Approach 1.4 A Trailguide to This Book 1.5 Author Positionality and Stance References 2 Education in the Lives of Eastern European National Minority Women 2.1 Gender in Higher Education 2.2 Nationality in Higher Education 2.3 Minority Language Education and the Language Barrier 2.4 Continuing Education and the Educational Migration of National Minority Students 2.5 Gender in Continuing Education and Educational Migration 2.6 Women’s Careers and Leadership Positions in Academia References 3 Limited Options: National Minority Education in Serbia 3.1 Educational Possibilities of National Minority Students 3.1.1 Hungarian Language Education in Serbia, Secondary and Tertiary Level 3.1.2 Slovak Language Education in Serbia, Secondary and Tertiary Level 3.1.3 Romanian Language Education in Serbia, Secondary and Tertiary Level 3.2 National Minority Students at the University of Novi Sad 3.2.1 Ethnic Hungarian Students at the University of Novi Sad 3.2.2 Ethnic Slovak Students at the University of Novi Sad 3.2.3 Ethnic Romanian Students at the University of Novi Sad 3.2.4 Female Students’ Proportions at the University of Novi Sad 3.3 National Councils as Institutional Support 3.3.1 The Hungarian National Council 3.3.2 The Slovak National Council 3.3.3 The Romanian National Council 3.4 NGOs Supporting National Minority Education 3.4.1 Hungarian NGOs 3.4.2 Slovak NGOs 3.4.3 Romanian NGOs Appendix References 4 Lost in Translation: The Language Barrier’s Effect on National Minority High School Graduates 4.1 Sample, Procedure, Instruments, and Ethics 4.2 To Study, or Not to Study? 4.2.1 Where to Study? 4.3 Language Barriers Appendix References 5 The Language Barrier as the Ethnic “Glass Ceiling”: Ethnic Micro-Universes Within Serbian Universities 5.1 Hungarian Female Students 5.1.1 Stories About Strong Language Barrier 5.1.2 Stories About Medium Language Barrier 5.1.3 Stories About No Language Barrier 5.2 Hungarian Female Professors 5.3 Slovak and Romanian Female Professors 5.4 Making Sense of the “Other” Through Language: Serbian Women 5.4.1 Teaching Hungarian Students 5.4.2 Help to Hungarian Students with Language Difficulties 5.5 Language Cannot Be a Limitation: Men on Language 5.6 Conclusion: Language Barrier as the Ethnic “Glass Ceiling” Appendix References 6 The Costs of Academic Career for a National Minority Woman 6.1 The Position of National Minority Women in Serbian Academia 6.2 Academic Women in Decision-Making Positions 6.2.1 Female Professors from National Minority Background 6.2.2 Female Professors from Ethnic Majority Background 6.3 Another Glance: The Possibilities of National Minority Women as Seen by Ethnic Majority Professors 6.3.1 Female Professors from Majority Background 6.3.2 Ethnic Majority Men in Decision-Making Positions 6.3.3 Men in Serbian Academia 6.4 Career Building in the Serbian Academic Arena: Narrative Strategies References 7 Conclusions References Index