The role of colleges for advanced studies in Roma undergraduates’ adjustment to college in Hungary from a social network perspective

ABSTRACT Adapting to the expectations of educational institutions can be difficult for any students, but it is particularly difficult for disadvantaged, first-generation college students with a minority ethnic background. Our case study, employing a social network perspective, examines the role of small peer-communities in the academic adjustment of underrepresented minority students, namely Roma young people in Hungary. Using a social network approach, the study aims to evaluate what the exact role of ‘colleges for advanced studies’ communities is in the everyday life of Roma students, characteristically first-generation intellectuals, and how such communities contribute to academic adjustment. Furthermore, this study examines the main dilemmas concerning the operation of such colleges for advanced studies. The results show that institutions with fewer students and those operating in separate buildings (spatial segregation) provide an opportunity for much stronger connections and more interactions for the students. However, the analysis also showed that the predominance of RCASN ties may hinder the formation of host connections, and this way hampers the stronger bonding to the university.