Intergenerational educational mobility in the transitional period in Croatia: 20 years later

In the past two decades, Croatia has undergone profound changes ; war and transition have resulted in an altered socio-political context, changes in the social structure and an unfavourable economic situation. The social diversification which has emerged has led to sharp social stratification, in which the middle social stratum has almost vanished and a new, narrow, elite stratum been created. This paper will analyse patterns of intergenerational mobility in two periods (1984 and 2004), showing that Croatian society has been characterised by a relatively low degree of intergenerational mobility, with a high degree of social reproduction in both the socialist and transitional period

Izbor studija: motivacijska struktura upisa i očekivani uspjeh u pronalasku željenog posla

Visoko obrazovanje mladih i kasnije njihovo zapošljavanje, ključni su resursi za ekonomski i društveni napredak zajednice. Polazište osovine – motivacija za izbor studija, po nalazima brojnih istraživanja, oblikuje se još u adolescenciji. Cilj našega istraživanja bio je ispitati koje dimenzije obuhvaća motivacija za upis studija kod studenta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Po našim rezultatima, većinom je riječ o upisu željenoga fakulteta, kod kojega prevladava ljubav prema struci i visoka zapošljivost struke. Možemo reći da su studenti svjesni tržišne situacije i s priličnom točnošću procjenjuju svoj (ne)uspjeh u zapošljavanju s obzirom na položaj struke, a razloge otežanoga zapošljavanja u većini slučajeva svode na tri velike grupacije: loš položaj struke i visoka nezaposlenost u struci ; prepreke osobne prirode (poput lošega uspjeha na studiju) ; te loša politička situacija, administrativni problemi i korupcija. Studenti su se po iskazanim stavovima pokazali prilično homogenom grupom jer su u pogledu skoro svih formiranih kategorija motivacija za upis studija i očekivanoga uspjeha u pronalasku posla jedino pripadna područja znanosti izvršila utjecaj u smjeru statistički značajnoga razlikovanja studenata. (IN ENGLISH: High education of the young population and their later employment are key resources of economic and social prosperity of a community. Numerous researches show that the starting point of this assumption, motivation for going to university, goes back to adolescence. The goal of our research is to find out what motivates students from the University of Zagreb to do their studies. According to our results, most students choose to study subjects they are interested in, they choose professions they love and where employment is high. Students are well aware of the situation on the job market and quite accurately assess their chances of employment. The following reasons cause problems with employment: low ranking of some professions and high unemployment, personal drawbacks (such as bad marks during studies), bad political situation, administrative problems and corruption. According to their expressed attitudes, students prove to be quite a homogeneous group; statistically relevant differences among students – regarding motivation for going to university and expected success in finding a job – are only related to their different fields of study.

Mladi i izgradnja mira: analiza aktivnosti izgradnje mira u udrugama mladih i za mlade

Uvodni dio knjige Mladi i izgradnja mira konceptualizira pojam izgradnje mira kao i suodnos strukturalne, odnosne i individualne razine u njegovom postizanju. Slijedi istraživački dio temeljen na analizi provedenih projekata s temom izgradnje mira financiranih od strane državnih institucija kao i prakse financiranja u razdoblju 2006. i 2007.godine. Također, predstavljene su studije slučaja primjera dobre prakse provedenih projekata

A sociological portrait of contemporary Croatian youth

This paper presents the results of three pieces of empirical research conducted in 1986, 1999 and 2004 respectively, on a representative sample of Croatian youth and a control sample of those above 30 in the latest research. One aim of the data review is to obtain insights into the basic contours of the sociological profile of contemporary Croatian youth and changes occurred in the observed period, detecting possible intergenerational differences. The data comparison showed the limited dynamics of the changes in the young population and the relative proximity of the young and the older population in Croatia

Obrazovne asimetrije u nastajanju: natjecanja učenika kao indikatori ekonomskog razvoja

Croatia does not score well in the human development index, rate of employment, or development of the high tech sector – to mention only a few indicators that hinder good prospects for improvement. Also, Croatian high school students are at the bottom of European rankings on performance in science and mathematics and their interest in career in science is declining. Croatia needs more educated people, especially in the area of science and technology, and this can be achieved only if the youth become interested in science at an early age. Thus, science fair competitions are of an utmost importance for development of Croatia. This paper aims at investigating a relation of the Croatian counties’ development index and their students’ participation rates in the science fair competitions. This is done by including two development indexes in search for the relation with the counties’ participation rates in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics competition, and with a reference to a previous research on astronomy competition. As is revealed, there is a growing trend of interconnection of the development index and participation rates at science competitions in all disciplines.Hrvatska ne stoji dobro na ljestvici indeksa razvijenosti, stope zaposlenosti, razvoja visokotehnološkog sektora, što su samo neki od indikatora koji ne daju perspektivu promjene na bolje. Također, hrvatski srednjoškolci su na dnu ljestvice u Europi po rezultatima na testovima znanosti, a opada i njihov interes za karijeru u znanosti. Hrvatska treba više obrazovanih ljudi, posebice u području znanosti i tehnologije, što se može postići jedino ukoliko se mlade u najranijoj dobi zainteresira za znanost. Stoga su natjecanja u pojedinim znanstvenim disciplinama od presudne važnosti za razvoj Hrvatske. Ovaj članak cilja ka istraživanju povezanosti indeksa razvijenosti županija sa stopom sudjelovanja učenika na natjecanjima. Navedeno će se postići uključenjem dvaju indeksa razvijenosti u traženje povezanosti sa stopama sudjelovanja u natjecanjima iz biologije, kemije, fizike i matematike, uz pregled prethodnog istraživanja za natjecanje iz astronomije. Kao što će se pokazati, postoji rastući trend međusobne povezanosti indeksa razvijenosti i stopa sudjelovanja učenika na natjecanjima po svim disciplinama

Profesionalne i životne aspiracije studenata Zagrebačkoga sveučilišta

U ovom članku analizirane su životne i profesionalne aspiracije studenta, te njihova spremnost i razlozi eventualnoga odlaska u inozemstvo. Sukladno nalazima svjetskih istraživanja mladih, uključujući i studente, u našem se istraživanju pokazalo da se na osobnom planu prije svega radi o zasnivanju obitelji, a na profesionalnom o karijeri stručnjaka. Studenti su velikim dijelom suglasni da im glavne prepreke u ostvarivanju ambicija predstavljaju ekonomski i problemi osobne prirode, kao i administrativne barijere uz lošu političku situaciju i korupciju. Oko polovice studenata razmišlja o eventualnom odlasku u inozemstvo, ponajprije iz profesionalnih razloga jer žele bolje uvjete i vrednovanje rada, te profesionalno usavršavanje. U iskazanim stavovima studenti su uglavnom jedinstveni – sustavnije razlike javljaju se tek u pogledu područja znanosti koje studiraju, a u nekim slučajevima javljaju se i indikativne rodne razlike. (IN ENGLISH: This article analyses life and professional aspirations of students and how willing they are to leave the country and perhaps go abroad and for what reasons. In consistence with the results of world research about the young people, including students, our research shows that on a personal level they mostly wish to start a family and professionaly they wish to build a career. Most students agree that economic and personal problems, administrative barriers, bad political situation and corruption stand in the way of their ambitions. About one half of interviewed students think about going abroad primarily for professional reasons: they want better working conditions, higher appreciation of their work, professional improvement. Students’ attitudes do not vary significantly: if so, differences are related to their various fields of study or, in some cases, they are gender related.

Going to University: Motivation Structure and Expectations for Finding a Desired Job

Visoko obrazovanje mladih i kasnije njihovo zapošljavanje, ključni su resursi za ekonomski i društveni napredak zajednice. Polazište osovine – motivacija za izbor studija, po nalazima brojnih istraživanja, oblikuje se još u adolescenciji. Cilj našega istraživanja bio je ispitati koje dimenzije obuhvaća motivacija za upis studija kod studenta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Po našim rezultatima, većinom je riječ o upisu željenoga fakulteta, kod kojega prevladava ljubav prema struci i visoka zapošljivost struke. Možemo reći da su studenti svjesni tržišne situacije i s priličnom točnošću procjenjuju svoj (ne)uspjeh u zapošljavanju s obzirom na položaj struke, a razloge otežanoga zapošljavanja u većini slučajeva svode na tri velike grupacije: loš položaj struke i visoka nezaposlenost u struci; prepreke osobne prirode (poput lošega uspjeha na studiju); te loša politička situacija, administrativni problemi i korupcija. Studenti su se po iskazanim stavovima pokazali prilično homogenom grupom jer su u pogledu skoro svih formiranih kategorija motivacija za upis studija i očekivanoga uspjeha u pronalasku posla jedino pripadna područja znanosti izvršila utjecaj u smjeru statistički značajnoga razlikovanja studenata.High education of the young population and their later employment are key resources of economic and social prosperity of a community. Numerous researches show that the starting point of this assumption, motivation for going to university, goes back to adolescence. The goal of our research is to find out what motivates students from the University of Zagreb to do their studies. According to our results, most students choose to study subjects they are interested in, they choose professions they love and where employment is high. Students are well aware of the situation on the job market and quite accurately assess their chances of employment. The following reasons cause problems with employment: low ranking of some professions and high unemployment, personal drawbacks (such as bad marks during studies), bad political situation, administrative problems and corruption. According to their expressed attitudes, students prove to be quite a homogeneous group; statistically relevant differences among students – regarding motivation for going to university and expected success in finding a job – are only related to their different fields of study