MIGRATION CARRIER-STUDY OF VOJVODINA HUNGARIAN YOUNG ECONOMISTS AND ENGINEERS

The number of autochthon Hungarian inhabitants in Vojvodina has significantly fallen, and their identity and regional self-organisation have also become weaker. Emigration is among the processes that have contributed to demographic decline of the national group. Vojvodina Hungarians with Serbian citizenship have moved to Hungary in great quantities for the past 20 years. Their migration was motivated by political factors, the warlike situation. A characteristic group of this population movement is the learning-migrating-commuting youth that has more and more often decided for studying in Hungary, especially for the past 10-12 years.
Young Vojvodina Hungarian intellectuals are important members of the Hungarian national community living in Serbia. With their emigration the national community suffers enduring damages (brain drain, loss of social status, biological-reproductive and demographic losses). This paper analyses the educational career path of young Vojvodina Hungarian students and graduates. Such individuals have been included in the sample who are/have been studying in the two countries (Serbia and Hungary). They have permanent relationships with transnational character. Though, the most important circumstance is that after finishing their studies they have returned/will return to their homeland. They do not consider that their long-term prosperity and professional success depends on emigration to Hungary.
Concerning the methodology, some sociological depth interviews were done with 18 people - graduates, university and college students - in 2010. The interviewees were such Hungarian young people between 24-34 who are attending/have attended economics or engineering studies in Serbia or Hungary. Two segments have been chosen because, on the one hand, these are among the most preferred professions, and on the other hand, in the case of both branches in Vojvodina these studies are organised partly (economics) or entirely (engineering) in Hungarian teaching language. The selection of interviewees was random, within the predetermined parameters. The difference in genders (12 men, 6 women) can be explained with the fact that mostly men are those who choose engineering training. Territorial distribution of the interviewees: Bečej, Mol, Ada, Senta, Kanjiža, Subotica, Palić. Hungarian towns concerned in migration for educational purposes are: Szeged, Pécs, Budapest.
The goal of the empirical research was to answer/to attempt to clarify the following questions:
- Why have more and more young Vojvodina Hungarians chosen higher educational institutions from Hungary for achieving higher qualifications for the past 20 years?
- What circumstances are necessary for providing that students who have graduated abroad may be willing to return home with their knowledge achieved abroad?
- What are the arguments of those who study in Serbia for doing so?
- How strong and what kind of emigration motivation do young Vojvodina Hungarians have?
The commuting students learning in Hungary begin their university/college studies (rarely even the secondary school) in the "foreign country". After the wars have finished and the period of expressed political and social doubtfulness have passed, the phenomenon and tendency of studying abroad have not fallen into the background. Migration for learning purposes is a significant and everyday phenomenon in the border region (a typical example is the Szeged-Subotica relation). The choice of profession of young Vojvodina Hungarians is decisively influenced by the possibility of learning in mother tongue primarily, followed by material reasons (schooling fee, travel costs, distance etc.). The role of Hungary and the Hungarian higher education manifests in quality education (various offer, attractive fields of study, labour-market motives, diploma issued in EU, evolving individual interests).
The conditions of studying (higher education) in the homeland - considering other career prospects as well - are still not provided for young Vojvodina Hungarians. It is among others affected by recently emerging nationalism, isolating efforts, turning inward, seeking for cultural values and roots among the national group, neglecting the language of the environment (Serbian). In Serbia young people primarily choose profession in the fields of economics, technical studies or pedagogy (because training is partly or entirely organised in Hungarian teaching language), which decision is also influenced by distance from the family. This fact also proves explicit rural mentality of Hungarians.
Almost all of the interviewees graduating in Hungary have returned home, and even those who "remained abroad" have not refused the possibility of settling in Vojvodina. The cause of it lies in strong devotion to family, friends and the homeland itself. In case of migration the target country is Hungary in the first place, the reason for which - beside language and cultural factors - is in the smallest possible distance (especially in the towns of the border region). The willingness to migration could be strengthened by worsening economic and political situation in Serbia. The respondents are ready to move to abroad temporarily in order to achieve professional experience, improve their knowledge and language skills, widen their horizon and gain new ideas.
Staying - remaining in Serbia resulted in strong emotional relations. Public spirit is strong, decades of interdependence and collective culture implied close ties. This has also influenced those who have returned home after finishing their studies in Hungary, and this keeps at home those who have studied in Serbia. Still young people do not return home in many cases (according to some estimation between 30-50%). With their emigration the national community suffers enduring damages (brain drain, loss of social status, biological-reproductive and demographic losses). Studying in the homeland (with adequate innovative, cross-border organisations, institutionalisation of multiethnic higher education) could probably stabilise the remaining of the national group in Serbia.

Keywords: higher education, migration processes for educational purposes between Hungary and Serbia, emigration or return migration