Main actors and their strategies in Hungarian higher education

Abstract

There is a considerable discrepancy between official rhetoric and reality in the Hungarian higher education system. Based on a series of personal interviews conducted with the actors of Hungarian higher education, this article offers an analysis of the positions and strategies of the key players. Using the Matrix of Alliances and Conflicts: Tactics, Objectives and Recommendations (MACTOR) method, the actors of the higher education system are analysed in terms of direct and indirect reciprocal influences, and their positions with regard to a generic set of possible objectives. It is argued that there is an urgent need for concentrating resources and for re-defining the higher education strategy based on the long-term demands of a globalising world.