Ethnic Minority Education and Intermarriage in Central and Eastern Europe: Bridges Between Nations or Paths to Assimilation?

This presentation delved into the educational challenges faced by ethnic minorities in Vojvodina, Serbia, with a special focus on the Hungarian ethnic minority. The research highlights the importance of mother-tongue education for preserving minority identities, as well as the role of minority language schools in fostering cultural continuity. However, issues such as the language barrier (insufficient knowledge of the state language) and educational migration pose significant challenges, as many minority students opt to pursue higher education abroad, particularly in Hungary, to avoid disadvantages associated with the Serbian higher education system. This trend raises concerns about brain drain and the future of minority communities in the region. In the second part, the study examines the social implications of intermarriages in Vojvodina, analyzing how ethnic intermarriages influence identity formation, cultural autonomy, and social cohesion. Intermarriages between minority and majority populations are explored as both potential bridges between ethnic groups and as contributors to the assimilation and erosion of minority identities. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, the research underscores the complex dynamics that shape intermarriages, including family tensions, cultural differences, and the role of gender in cultural transmission. By examining these issues, the presentation offers insights into the broader implications of interethnic relationships for minority communities in Central and Eastern Europe.

 

 

Karolina Lendák-Kabók, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Hungary. She completed her PhD in 2019 at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. From 2021 to 2022, she coordinated the University Centre for Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies and Research at the University of Novi Sad, before beginning her EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (2022-2024) at ELTE. Her research explores ethnic minorities, language barriers, gender disparities in academia, and ethnic intermarriages. Dr. Lendák-Kabók authored Ethnic Minorities in Serbian Academia: The Role of Gender and Language Barrier (Palgrave, 2022) and edited Üvegplafon? (Glass Ceiling?), a collection of essays by Hungarian minority women. She has received numerous awards, including the ELTE Promising Researcher Award (2023), the “Anđelka Milić” Award (2022), and the Crystal Ball Award (2017). Karolina has been a visiting researcher in Australia, France, Hungary, Switzerland, the US, and Canada, and has published over 40 journal articles and conference papers. She is also a mother of three.