Religiosity and Career Options of Youth from the Romanian-Hungarian Cross-Border Region

Abstract

Our paper examines the relationship between religiosity and the career options of the students from the Romanian-Hungarian cross-border region, respectively the choice of their study domain. We have assumed that a high level of religiosity would predict options for careers that operate with values similar to the religious ones (in education, justice, art, social work, medicine – careers chosen from the humanities); while a low level of religiosity would turn students toward technical and business/ economic careers. To test the hypotheses we have used the survey data from BA students selected using a quota sampling procedure (quotas were proportional with cycle, year, faculty and type of financing) from 2 large public higher education institutions located in the Romanian-Hungarian cross-border: the University of Oradea (Romania) - 545 cases - and the University of Debrecen (Hungary) - 886 cases. The results of testing the hypotheses using multinomial logistic regressions have partially confirmed this hypothesis, between religiosity and the career options have appeared a series of extra factors such as the students’ residential background, the economic context, their family’s situation and the potential income of that particular job. We have discussed the theoretical outcomes of the study and we have formulated future research directions.