Oldal 14 [14]
IZOLDA TAKÁCS: THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
Further data
Available data was also implemented alongside semi-structured interviews.
Shortly after the 2016 election held by the MTA several male and female re¬
searchers went on to address their opinions on the election results in essays
(see more on this in the third chapter, “What is behind the academic election?
Between Scylla and Charybdis: Female quotas or natural but slow change that
might take decades?”). The primary goal of the secondary analysis was to
present a broader picture of the attitude of scholars and academicians towards
this topic, which can add further layers to my work. Among other considera¬
tions, these essays outlined the beliefs of the academicians that the electoral
method of the MTA and the traditions guiding these elections are the reasons
no women was elected in 2016.
It is furthermore worth considering that since the members of the surveyed
group are part of the scientific elite, a great deal of additional data can be found
about them (CVs, MTMT [Magyar Tudomanyos Mitivek Tara — Archive of
Hungarian Scientific Works], previous interviews, monographs, scientific and
other publications by and about them, etc.), which also proved to be valuable
assets to support the semi-structured interviews.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS
My research has strived to pinpoint universally present gender and social is¬
sues through the examination of exceptions, i.e. successful career paths. The
assumption was that if the conditions for a successful scholarly career among
women can be revealed, the possible causes of the attrition will become visible
as well.
First I analysed the narratives along the main areas drawn up in the inter¬
view questions. As the early years of an individual and the typical marks of
family background could be interpreted in a similar historical context, it could
be ascertained that the negative effects of this period have only increased the
number of obstructions in the case of the interviewees (who typically come
from a white-collar background), especially on ancestral and political-ideo¬
logical grounds. An interesting aspect of this area is that a universal tendency
could be shown despite the significant changes of the political-ideological
system, i. e. that the scientific career, the academic aim is fundamentally based
on origin, and it is appreciably influenced by the cultural capital, the societal
status of the parents. On the other hand, this descent was not a necessary
premise when entering the profession or getting into college.
No gender-based disadvantage could be demonstrated in the case of the
examined female scholars in their early life, which was the same in the next
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