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FACULTY LIFE IN AN ILLIBERAL STATE: HUNGARIAN COLLEGIATE FACULTY WORK LIFE VIGNETTES A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University College of Education, Health, and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Jessica M. Jewell May, 2019 ! © Copyright, 2019 by Jessica M. Jewell All Rights Reserved ii A dissertation written by Jessica M. Jewell B.A., Indiana University, 2004 M.F.A., Kent State University, 2007 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2019 Approved by _________________________, Director, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Martha C. Merrill _________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Mark Kretovics _________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Tricia Niesz Accepted by _________________________, Director, School of Foundations, Leadership and Kimberly S. Schimmel Administration _________________________, Dean, College of Education, Health and Human Services James C. Hannon ! iii JEWELL, JESSICA M., Ph.D., May 2019 Higher Education Administration FACULTY LIFE IN AN ILLIBERAL STATE: HUNGARIAN COLLEGIATE FACULTY WORK LIFE VIGNETTES (pp. 239) Director of Dissertation: Martha Merrill, Ph.D. The purpose of this narrative study is to understand internal and external forces that affect the professional lives of current and past higher education faculty members in Hungary who are currently living and working during an era of increasingly oppressive political agendas. Like its regional neighbors, Hungary is the home to some of the first and finest universities in Europe. But tragically, a far-right political wave is swallowing its democratic institutions, including its institutions of higher learning. While there have been many reports about the concern or impact of Hungary’s State policies for education, there have been no academic studies into the perceptions of faculty who are working through these dark days. The following research questions provide a framework for this study: How has the political environment influenced Hungarian collegiate faculty? What are Hungarian collegiate faculty perceptions of the higher education reforms? What are the professional, scholastic, and pedagogical goals of Hungarian collegiate faculty? The methodology guiding this study is evolving personal narratives and the contextualizing of meaning from these narratives through internal and external forces. Key Words: Hungarian Higher Education, Faculty, Narrative Methodology ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my dissertation director, Dr. Martha Merrill, your mentorship over the last five years has pushed me to be a better student and a better scholar. Whether it was your 3 a.m. emails detailing policy changes to higher education institutions in Central Eastern Europe, your always-demanding, always-interesting courses, or your gift for defusing panic by recommending the perfect Russian novel or American poetry verse, I am indebted to you for your generosity and counsel. To my parents, Rob and Mary, and to my brother and sister-in-law, Brian and Suzette, who suffered through too many holiday dinners while I recounted the latest literature on internationalization and my views on Foucauldian post-structuralism. I am forever grateful for your love and constant encouragement over the years, without which I would not be writing this acknowledgment today. To my wife, Gyorgyi. You and your experiences are not only the genesis of my research interest in Hungarian higher education, you are my inspiration and my absolute favorite research teammate. We have worked together on many projects over the years, but your help to me with this research has been indispensable. From your patient listening to all of my early-morning research rants to your constant and loving encouragement whenever I felt like this journey was getting the best of me. Köszönöm for helping me understand why this research is important and helping me frame my love and admiration for Hungary and its people. To my colleagues, especially Chynara Ryskulova, Carole Goddard, Beto Arruda, and Kevin Spence, thank you for your knowledge, friendship, and, most importantly, always making me laugh. iv ! To my dissertation committee, Dr. Tricia Niesz and Dr. Mark Kretovics, thank you for all of your help, revisions, and questions over the last year. You helped me see new implications for this research and I am so grateful for your mentorship. Finally, though I can’t name them by name, this work would not have been possible without the courage and openness of the six incredible participants of this study. Your dedication to your work, your students, and your departments is absolutely remarkable, and I am so honored that you allowed me a small peek into your lives during this challenging time. You have inspired me to be a better colleague, teacher, and scholar, and for that I am forever grateful to you all. v ! DEDICATION I dedicate this research to all Hungarian teachers who continue their important work despite the forces trying to silence them. I hear you and am eternally grateful to you as you fight for academic freedom in Hungary. vi ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 Positionality Statement: Figure or Background .................................................... 2 Statement of Problem ........................................................................................... 5 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................ 9 Defining Internationalization ............................................................................. 11 Significance of the Study ................................................................................... 12 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .................................................................... 14 The Post-Communist University in Central Eastern Europe ............................... 15 Internationalization of Hungarian Higher Education........................................... 19 Quality Assurance and Evaluation .......................................................... 21 Government as Primary Stakeholder ....................................................... 24 The Takeover of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences ............................ 26 Public Enemy #1 ................................................................................................ 27 Student Mobility..................................................................................... 29 Understandings....................................................................................... 33 Faculty Perceptions ................................................................................ 36 Public Enemy #2 ................................................................................................ 36 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 45 Foucault and Poststructuralism ............................................................... 46 Narrative Collision ................................................................................. 47 III. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 49 A Human Endeavor, Widely Spread ................................................................... 51 The Truth is Not Out There. There is No Out There, Nor Truth, Nor Is .............. 51 The Problem with Reflexivity ............................................................................ 54 Data Collection .................................................................................................. 57 Institutional Review Board ..................................................................... 58 Research Site .......................................................................................... 58 Selection Criteria .................................................................................... 58 Recruitment ............................................................................................ 58 Interviews .............................................................................................. 60 Risks ...................................................................................................... 63 Data Analysis..................................................................................................... 64 Textual Analysis..................................................................................... 65 IV. FINDINGS ........................................................................................................ 68 Definitions ......................................................................................................... 71 vii ! “Tamás” Senior Assistant Professor, English and American Studies .................. 72 The Path to the Academe ....................................................................... 73 An Average Day .................................................................................... 76 Students ................................................................................................ 78 Career Ambitions .................................................................................. 82 Higher Education as a Public or Private Good ......................................
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