Consumer behaviour and lifestyle patterns of Hungarian students in view of environmental awareness

The aim of this paper is to describe the consumer behaviour and everyday lifestyle patterns of Hungarian university and college students. The results are gained from an international survey, carried out by the Department of Environmental Economics and Technology at the Corvinus University of Budapest, supported by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. As background literature, characteristics of the consumer society and the development of sustainable consumption as a concept are interpreted in the paper. The empirical analysis aims to describe the most important clusters of students, based on the factors of their consumer behaviour, environmental activism and pro-environmental everyday habits. Our results identify two extreme clusters which most significantly differ from each other: the environmental activists and the indifferent group. However, a third cluster has the most modest consumer behaviour, namely the group which considers product features, energy consumption and the behaviour of producers. They spend the least on consumer goods. The three other clusters show quite mixed lifestyle patterns.

Fejezetek a nemzetközi üzleti gazdaságtanból 4. = Chapters in International Business. Reviews on Selected Papers on International Business 4.

A kötet azzal a céllal készült, hogy a Nemzetközi vállalatgazdaságtant tanulmányozók számára további támpontokat és ismeretbővítési lehetőségeket adjon magyar nyelven. A műhelytanulmány a nemzetközi üzleti gazdaságtan (international business) öt témaköréről ad áttekintést: az internalizációs elmélet, az intézményi megközelítés, a külpiacra lépés kisvállalati nézőpontból, a leányvállalatok lehetséges szerepei, és végül módszertani megfontolások. A korábbi kötetekhez hasonlóan, a műhelytanulmány fejezeteit a BCE Gazdálkodástani Doktori Iskola PhD hallgatói készítették. ----- The aim of the working paper is to provide insights on selected areas in international business. It is a supplement for the Hungarian language IB textbook. Five fields are covered in the working paper: internalization theory and its extensions, forming institutions in host countries, challenges of foreign market entry for small businesses, roles of subsidiaries in the multinational corporations, and methodological issues in IB. The chapters in the working paper were prepared by the PhD students of the Business and Management PhD School at Corvinus University of Budapest.

Hallgatói vállalkozási tervek vizsgálata a GUESSS 2011-es felmése alapján (Assessing entrepreneurial intentions and plans among students based on GUESSS 2011 research)

A tanulmány azt vizsgálja, hogy milyen vállalkozást szeretnének indítani, honnan szerzik az ötletet és a társakat az egyetemi hallgatók, és milyen módon jelenik meg a vállalati felelősség. Betekintést ad az oktatott vállalkozáskurzusok elérhetőségébe, és a GUESSS adatbázisára építve értékeli a válaszokat. Jelen tanulmány csak a magyar adatok feldolgozását tartalmazza, egyes helyeken nemzetközi kitekintéssel. A szerző a cikk végén szemlélteti, hogyan térnek el vállalkozásindítást gátló tényezők Magyarországon a nemzetközi átlagtól a hallgatók körében. _____ The primary focus of the study, what kind of small business students intend to start, where the ideas come from, and how corporate responsibility present in student plans. It gives some figures about availability of entrepreneurial courses, and based on GUESS database it analyses results. This study is limited to the Hungarian results, with some international outlook. The author at the end of the article, shows how obstacles of start-up are differ from international average.

Vállalkozói attitűdök kutatása egyetemi-főiskolai hallgatók körében (Research of students’ entrepreneurial attitudes)

Magyarország 2006-ban csatlakozott a Szt. Gallen-i Egyetem (Svájc) által koordinált (GUESSS Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey) kutatáshoz, amely a hallgatók vállalkozásindítással kapcsolatos elképzeléseit és vállalkozási tevékenységét kérdőíves adatfelvétel segítségével vizsgálja. Az online megkérdezésnek köszönhetően Magyarország esetében 2011-ben 5 677 hallgató válaszai alapján értékelhették a szerzők a hallgatók vállalkozásindítási szándékát és azok legfontosabb alakító tényezőit. A kutatás nemzetközi jellegének köszönhetően eredményeik összevethetők a nemzetközi tapasztalatokkal is. A tanulmány bemutatja a nemzetközi kutatás célját, elméleti hátterét, a kérdőívet és a kérdezés folyamatát. A magyar adatbázis legfontosabb jellemzői mellett a szerzők ismertetik a vállalkozásindítási szándék, a főiskolai-egyetemi környezet nemzetközi összehasonlító adatait. _______ Hungary joined the GUESSS (Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey) research project organized and led by the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland in 2006. GUESSS evaluated students’ entrepreneurial intentions and activities with the help of a questionnaire. In 2011 an online survey was conducted in Hungary, addressing 5.677 students. The students’ responses regarding their business start-up activities and intentions as well as the most important factors shaping them were evaluated. The international nature of the research allowed the authors’ to compare Hungarian results to international practices. This paper describes the purpose of the international research, its theoretical background, the questionnaire and the interview process. Apart from presenting the most important features of the Hungarian data set, they describe the start-up intentions, the university and college environment and compare them to the international data.

A vállalkozói hajlandóság vizsgálata a női hallgatók körében Magyarországon (Research of entrepreneurial intentions of the Hungarian female students)

Köztudott, hogy a nők lényeges szerepet töltenek be a gazdasági életben, ezért fontos megvizsgálni azt, hogy melyek az ösztönző és az akadályozó tényezők a vállalkozásindításuk során. Egy 2011-es nemzetközi kutatás többek között a magyar női hallgatók vállalkozói hajlandóságát befolyásoló tényezőket vizsgálta. A kutatás többek között a motivációs tényezőkre, a személyiségjegyekre, valamint a korlátozó tényezőkre irányult. A vizsgálat eredményei azt igazolták, hogy a női vállalkozói létet nemcsak a pénzügyi indítékok vezérelték, hanem a belső tényezők is. Elsősorban az egyéni tényezők jelentették az akadályokat számukra, a szervezeti-környezeti korlátok szerepe kisebb jelentőséggel bírt. A vizsgálat eredményei többnyire a szakirodalmi adatokat igazolták. _____ It is widely known, that women play an important role in the economy, which makes the determination of motives and obstacles during business start-ups inevitable. Hungarian female students were surveyed during an international study in 2011 to determine the factors of entrepreneurial intentions. The survey included among other factors the motives for self‐employment, the personal characteristics and the barriers they faced. Results revealed that primary motivations for females during business start-ups were not only monetary motives, but also intrinsic factors. Problems faced by Hungarian female students were mainly individual; the organizationalenvironmental ones had lower importance. Results on motives and barriers were mostly consistent with the authors’ literature findings.

North Dade Medical Foundation Donates $5 Million to Establish Scholarships, Chairs at Florida International University College of Medicine

Press Release from Florida International University 's Office of Media Relations announcing North Dade Medical Foundation's $5 million dollar donation to establish scholarships for medical students and endowed chairs at Florida International University 's College of Medicine.

Section III: Medical Students

Document detailing the recruitment process and requirements for medical students accepted the College of Medicine. Part of the Medical Education Database for Preliminary Accreditation, 2006-2007.

Florida International University College of Medicine Medical Student Catalog

Provides information on the College of Medicine's history, curriculum, admissions, and requirements as well as other information for students admitted to the program. Draft copy.

Cognitive dissonance and the effect of acceptance of methodology, beliefs about religion, religious orientation, and dogmatism on the success of university students in a religious studies course

The problem investigated was negative effects on the ability of a university student to successfully complete a course in religious studies resulting from conflict between the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and the student's system of beliefs. Using Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance as a theoretical framework, it was hypothesized that completing a course with a high level of success would be negatively affected by (1) failure to accept the methodologies and objectives of religious studies (methodology), (2) holding beliefs about religion that had potential conflicts with the methodologies and objectives (beliefs), (3) extrinsic religiousness, and (4) dogmatism. The causal comparative method was used. The independent variables were measured with four scales employing Likert-type items. An 8-item scale to measure acceptance of the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and a 16-item scale to measure holding of beliefs about religion having potential conflict with the methodologies were developed for this study. These scales together with a 20-item form of Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale and Feagin's 12-item Religious Orientation Scale to measure extrinsic religiousness were administered to 144 undergraduate students enrolled in randomly selected religious studies courses at Florida International University. Level of success was determined by course grade with the 27% of students receiving the highest grades classified as highly successful and the 27% receiving the lowest grades classified as not highly successful. A stepwise discriminant analysis produced a single significant function with methodology and dogmatism as the discriminants. Methodology was the principal discriminating variable. Beliefs and extrinsic religiousness failed to discriminate significantly. It was concluded that failing to accept the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and being highly dogmatic have significant negative effects on a student's success in a religious studies course. Recommendations were made for teaching to diminish these negative effects.

Characteristics of effective clinical and theory instructors as perceived by LPN to RN versus generic students in an associate degree nursing program

The purpose of this study was to compare the characteristics of effective clinical and theory instructors as perceived by LPN/RN versus generic students in an associate degree nursing program.^ Data were collected from 508 students during the 1996-7 academic year from three NLN accredited associate degree nursing programs. The researcher developed instrument consisted of three parts: (a) Whitehead Characteristics of Effective Clinical Instructor Rating Scale, (b) Whitehead Characteristics of Effective Theory Instructor Rating Scale, and (c) Demographic Data Sheet. The items were listed under five major categories identified in the review of the literature: (a) interpersonal relationships, (b) personality traits, (c) teaching practices, (d) knowledge and experience, and (e) evaluation procedures. The instrument was administered to LPN/RN students in their first semester and to generic students in the third semester of an associate degree nursing program.^ Data was analyzed using a one factor mutivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Further t tests were carried out to explore for possible differences between type of student and by group. Crosstabulations of the demographic data were analyzed.^ There were no significant differences found between the LPN/RN versus generic students on their perceptions of either effective theory or effective clinical instructor characteristics. There were significant differences between groups on several of the individual items. There was no significant interaction between group and ethnicity or group and age on the five major categories for either of the two instruments. There was a significant main effect of ethnicity on several of the individual items.^ The differences between the means and standard deviations on both instruments were small, suggesting that all of the characteristics listed for effective theory and clinical instructors were important to both groups of students. Effective teaching behaviors, as indicated on the survey instruments, should be taught to students in graduate teacher education programs. These behaviors should also be discussed by faculty coordinators supervising adjunct faculty. Nursing educators in associate degree nursing programs should understand theories of adult learning and implement instructional strategies to enhance minority student success. ^

Effects of a modified English listening comprehension curriculum on students' achievement in English listening comprehension at Tamsui Oxford University College in Taiwan

Due to increased international trade, English as a foreign language is important to Taiwan. However, ESL teaching and learning in Taiwan emphasizes reading and writing skills only. ESL teaching in Taiwan causes students to lack competence in complete communication. Improving students' listening and speaking is a vital issue in Taiwan. ^ The purposes of this study are to determine the effects of a modified curriculum for the English listening comprehension course, to investigate whether the modified curriculum results in a significant improvement in student's listening comprehension, and to determine whether students were motivated to increase listening comprehension ability as a result of the new listening activities. An experimental and a control group, randomly assigned, received either the modified or the traditional curriculum at Tamsui Oxford University College (TOUC) in Taiwan over a fourteen week period of time. ^ A Michigan Listening Comprehension posttest was used to determine the difference in achievement between the two groups. A final examination was conducted to compare the two groups' achievement and to determine whether the goal of increasing listening comprehension achievement by using a modified curriculum was met. Subjects completed two questionnaires, one common form prior to class and another unique form for each group at the end of instruction. ^ Frequency distribution, chi-square, t-test for independent samples and analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that there were no significant differences in students' attitude and interest in English listening comprehension between those who were taught with an English listening modified curriculum compared with those students who were taught with a traditional curriculum. The findings also indicated that there was a difference in the final examination with the control group taught using the traditional curriculum scoring higher than the experimental group taught using the modified curriculum for performance in English listening comprehension, but there was no difference in scores on the Michigan Listening Comprehension Test (posttest). In addition, it was found that learning attitude and motivation influence students' learning. ^

Language maintenance and use in south Florida Hispanic university students: Do educational programs matter?

This study examined the long-term effects of bilingual education/ESOL instruction on Hispanic university students' subsequent Spanish language maintenance using sociolinguistic methodology as its framework. The study investigated whether or not Hispanic university students who had participated in bilingual or ESOL classes in their elementary schooling maintained Spanish as young adults. Maintenance included using Spanish in their personal and professional lives and demonstrating written competence in Spanish, as well as whether subjects considered themselves to be bilingual, how they rated their ability in different skill areas for the two languages, and if they exhibited positive attitudes toward language and education as compared to Hispanic students who had experienced an all English classroom situation. A Language and Education Survey was developed to collect data pertaining to these areas. ^ A convenience sample of 202 Hispanic undergraduate university students enrolled in education classes at Florida International University during the 2000–2001 academic year participated in the study. Subjects were grouped according to the type of program they had experienced at the elementary school level, Bilingual/ESOL and All English. ^ Statistically significant differences were found between the groups in subjects' self-ratings of their abilities in speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension. No statistically significant differences were found with respect to the continuation of Spanish language study at the secondary school or college levels although there was a significant difference in number of semesters for those who planned to do so. ^ In language use, there were statistically significant differences overall as there were in the personal domain, but none were found in the professional domain; nor were there any statistically significant differences between the groups with respect to attitudes regarding education and language. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups for communicative competence in written Spanish. These statistically significant findings in language ability, language use and written communicative competence indicated that Hispanic university students who were enrolled in bilingual programs/ESOL in their earlier schooling did maintain Spanish as their native language as compared to Hispanic students who did not participate in such programs. ^

Students' recollections of participating in a first year residential learning community experience

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of what participation in a first year residential learning community meant to students 2–3 years after their involvement in the program. Various theories including environmental, student involvement, psychosocial and intellectual, were used as a framework for this case study. Each of the ten participants was a junior or senior level student at the time of the study, but had previously participated in a first year residential learning community at Florida International University. The researcher held two semi-structured interviews with each participant, and collected data sheets from each. ^ The narrative data produced from the interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed to gain insights into the experiences and perspectives of the participants. Member checking was used after the interview process. A peer reviewer offered feedback during the data analysis. The resulting data was coded into categories, with a final selection of four themes and 15 sub-themes, which captured the essence of the participants' experiences. The four major themes included: (a) community, (b) involvement, (c) identity, and (d) academics. The community theme is used to describe how students perceived the environment to be. The involvement theme is used to describe the students' participation in campus life and their interaction with other members of the university community. The identity theme is used to describe the students' process of development, and the personal growth they underwent as a result of their experiences. The academics theme refers to the intellectual development of students and their interaction around academic issues. ^ The results of this study showed that the participants valued greatly their involvement in the First Year Residents Succeeding Together program (FYRST) and can articulate how it helped them succeed as students. In describing their experience, they most recall the sense of community that existed, the personal growth they experienced, the academic development process they went through, and their involvement, both with other people and with activities in their community. Recommendations are provided for practice and research, including several related to enhancing the academic culture, integrating faculty, utilizing peer influence and providing further opportunities to create a seamless learning environment. ^

Against all odds: Success stories of Latino students who survived the educational pipeline

The purpose of this interview study was to explore the experiences of Latino students, from their perspectives, as they journeyed through the educational pipeline, particularly the part focusing on the transfer experience from a 2-year college to a 4-year institution. This was accomplished by conducting in-depth interviews with 17 self-identified Latino men and women. All of the participants had attended Florida International University for at least 1 semester and had transferred from Miami Dade College. The participants varied in age, generational status, and cultural identity.^ The participants were asked to reflect on the external and internal influences that lead them to the 4-year institution. Tinto's (1993) model of student departure theory provided the theoretical framework for data collection and analysis. Based on the coding of the interviews, numerous themes emerged, including the role of the family, the impact of early education, the experiences of being Latino in Miami, the decisions to choose a college, the experience at the 2-year institution, the experience with the transfer process, and the obstacles and strategies the participants used for overcoming obstacles. These themes were furthered developed to determine which influences were most important for a successful journey through the educational pipeline. ^ The study found that viewing the pipeline via the students' perspectives juxtaposed with Tinto's (1993) model of student departure gave greater insight into the experiences of a population of students who have been underrepresented in higher education. The findings of this case study indicate that the transfer process for Latinos attending a Hispanic Serving Institution such as Florida International University, situated in a majority-minority city, is complex, with participants having to rely on peers and significant others for pertinent information and support. Several factors, including the importance of positive support networks and increased confidence nurtured by the 2-year institution, influenced the students' transfer to a 4-year institution. For professionals in the field, the findings of this study may lead to a broader understanding of the experiences of Latino students in the pipeline and, more importantly, assist college administrators and faculty in successfully guiding a population through a 4-year institution who first came via a 2-year institution. ^

Charles Perry Swinging Golf Club, First President of Florida International University, FIU, Founding President

Charles Edward Perry (Chuck), 1937-1999, was the founding president of Florida International University in Miami. He grew up in Logan County, West Virginia and graduated from Bowling Green State University. He married Betty Laird in 1961. In 1969, at the age of 32, Perry was the youngest president of any university in the nation. The name of the university reflects Perry’s desire for a title that would not limit the scope of the institution and would support his vision of having close ties to Latin America. Perry and a founding corps opened FIU to 5,667 students in 1972 with only one large building housing six different schools. Perry left the office of President of FIU in 1976 when the student body had grown to 10,000 students and the university had six buildings, offered 134 different degrees and was fully accredited. Charles Perry died on August 30, 1999 at his home in Rockwall, Texas. He is buried on the FIU campus in front of the Graham Center entrance.