Comparing Hungarian, Norwegian and English university students’ perceptions of disciplinary choice and sociology as a profession

Dr Rita Hordósy – University of Nottingham

Drawing on Burawoy’s assertion (2014) that sociology is infused with moral purpose, this paper explores how sociology undergraduate and postgraduate students understand and discuss their disciplinary choice, as well as possible sociological futures in the three national contexts of Norway, England and Hungary.

Based on an international comparative design, the study uses first, administrative secondary data to explore the patterns of student enrolment onto sociology courses over time. The sociology enrolment figures are contextualised with data on university expansion in general. Second, it uses interviews with students to explore their perceptions on subject choice and possible (sociological) futures. A total of 38 face-to-face or online semi-structured interviews with sociology Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD students, the similarities and differences in Hungarian (HU = 17), English (EN = 9) and Norwegian (NO = 12) students’ views are outlined.

The paper provides a typology along the axes of sociology focusing on oneself or others, and it being a generic or specific discipline. This typology for motivation ranges from an explanation for personal experience; to gaining tools to understand society, politics, broader inequalities; to sociological studies being a general basis for a career and hope for changing others’ inequalities. Further, using Markus and Nurius (1986) concept of possible selves, the paper provides a brief window into possible sociological futures. Students’ perceptions of the roles and activities, goals and outputs, as well as organisational settings one needs to work in to be considered a sociologist are outlined and related to their future sociological selves (Hordósy, Yasdiman & Lee, 2024).

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Hordósy, R., Yasdiman, M.B. & Lee, G.C.Y. (2024). What Does a Sociologist Do? Norwegian, English, and Hungarian University Students’ Possible Future Selves. British Journal of Sociology of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2024.2431274.

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