The university as a community, or the university in a community? From the development of social sciences towards the university’s third mission

This paper begins with a sociohistorical analysis of the university as a specific community of interacting intellectuals, which enabled the creation of an epistemological and institutional core for the development of the social sciences. On the other hand, we critically consider and analyze the contemporary university reforms in Europe, in terms of bringing universities and the social community closer together through the social dimension, as well as the dimensions of entrepreneurship and innovation. This paper aims to investigate the role of the university from its inception as a specific and unique intellectual community, towards its current aspirations to connect and integrate with the wider community. Two research tasks have been defined: the first refers to determining the importance of the interaction among intellectuals within the university for the production of scientific knowledge, while the second task involves analyzing the importance of interaction between the university and the social community through the university?s third mission. The research results indicate that the institutional and interactionist framework for the establishment of the university as an institution that communicates with the wider community was gradually formed through its various roles and reforms in the course of social history. However, we also conclude that the social role of the university has always been relatively complementary to the current third mission requirements, and with the historical development of knowledge concerning human society.

Measuring the trust in the European values study and the European social survey

In this paper, we compare the latent construct measurement of political and interpersonal trust in two researches: the European Values Study and the European Social Survey. The main goal was to estimate the validity of measuring the respective concepts. In order to achieve this goal, we conducted a number of Principal Component Analyses and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Additionally, we used multilevel regression modelling to test and compare the effect of socio-demographic variables on political and interpersonal trust in both researches. We identified that socio-demographic predictors had a similar effect on both types of trust. The paper is complemented with descriptive data that portray the differences among countries when it comes to interpersonal and political trust.

Political clientelism in Serbian media - the case of the Tanjug news agency

The paper problematizes the presence of political clientelism in the media in the Republic of Serbia. The aim of this research is to point out the examples of establishing mechanisms of clientelistic practice in the media, using the News agency Tanjug as an example. Three analytical categories, which are relevant for perceiving the problem of clientelism, have been included: regulatory framework, financial allocations from the state budget and the reporting of the news agency Tanjug. The results of the research show that the illegal functioning, the unsolved ownership issue, non-transparent financing and unprofessional reporting are characteristics of the media work of Tanjug agency. According to the law, the former state agency was scheduled to stop work by the end of 2015. However, Tanjug still, with unclear legal status and significant financial help from the state, publishes information, some of which were proven to be disinformation. The analysis of examples of unobjective and unprofessional reporting points out to the ignoring of public interest, in order to satisfy the particular interest of the governing political structure, which financially makes Tanjug?s functioning possible, in an illegal manner. This case represents a closed circle of interrelationships on the relation politics-economy-media, through which clientelism is defined, using quid pro quo practice.

Ethnic minority and majority female academic staff members perspectives on women in stem in Serbia

The paper aims to fill the gap in the scholarly literature regarding the way in which the intersection of ethnicity, gender and scientific fields shapes women?s narratives about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in a multiethnic environment in Serbia. A qualitative study was conducted, capitalizing on in-depth, semi-structured of twenty semi-structured interviews conducted with university professors from ethnic minority and majority comminties, working in STEM and social sciences and humanities (SSH) field of studies in two state universiteis in Serbia. The findings indicate that ethnic minority female professors from STEM are less open to female students and colleagues in their domains and do not see the need for more women in STEM. This attitude can be traced back to these women having to overcome a ?double jeopardy? and ?symbolic violence? in a very male-dominated field, as they belong to ethnic minority and hat to deal with the lack of or with the denial of recources within institutions. Equal abilities of men and women in STEM was a topic occurring mostly in the narratives of the majority women who mostly adopted a masculine patterns of behavior and tried to become ?one of the boys?. Both minority and majority women agreed that deeply rooted gender stereotypes prevent women from choosing a career in STEM. The research identified the need for more inclusive education programs on all levels and for female role models to steer more women towards STEM.

Overcoming methodological dogmatism in social sciences: Triangulation, multimethod, and mixed methods

For the longest time, quantitative and qualitative methods have been considered opposing and mutually exclusive categories within the methodology of social science. This is best showcased by the conflicts arising between the proponents of these differing approaches - conflicts that are often characterized by an air of methodological dogmatism. The term ?methodological dogmatism? refers to the conviction of researchers in the superiority of their own approach, while delegitimizing any other. The main purpose of this paper is to outline the contemporary theoretical possibities of overcoming said dogmatism, and the three most prevalent approaches (triangulation, multimethod and mixed methods) will be presented accordingly. The goal is to identify the continuity of the ideas referring to the integration of qualitative and quantitative methodology, as well as to highlight the characterstics, advantages and drawbacks of each method. The paper concludes that the choice of method should be based on the nature of the research problem at hand, and that the combining of methods can serve as a useful tool for understanding and encompassing the full complexity of phenomena which are at the heart of social research.

The importance of multidisciplinary cooperation and transdisciplinary research for overcoming the crisis of social humanities

We live in an age of the rise of scientific positivism, methodological particularism, and disciplinary chaos. We are witnessing the process of fragmentation of the scientific system, partialization, dehumanization and marginalization of the social sciences. The paper discusses the importance of multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research for overcoming the crisis of social sciences and humanities. In this context, special emphasis is placed on the importance of improving the practice of integrated studies in the education system at universities; and especially the importance of cooperation between natural / biomedical research and humanities (genetics, ecology, anthropology, demography, philosophy, ethics, history, psychology and sociology).

Paternalistic means for antipaternalistic ends: State intervention and societal non-interference in John Stuart Mill

In On Liberty John Stuart Mill defends individual liberty from any kind of interference that is not justified by self-protection. Paternalism, interfering in somebody?s liberty against his will in order to promote this person?s welfare, is forbidden by Mill?s ?one very simple principle?. However, numerous examples in other Mill?s works show that the famous utilitarian not only supports, but also suggests various paternalistic policies. In this paper I aim to offer an interpretation by which Mill was not indifferent toward the subject of a paternalistic action, and that there is a noteworthy difference between governmental (political), social and individual paternalism. Mill accepts the first kind of paternalism and rejects the other two in On Liberty. Such an interpretation might somewhat relieve Mill?s political thought from the burden of incoherence.

Housing and family trajectories of young adults in five countries: Sweden, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Serbia: Sequence analysis of European social survey data

The aim of this paper is to analyse housing and family transitions among the young and young adults in five countries: Sweden, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Serbia, representing the Social-democratic, Conservative, Liberal, Mediterranean and (SEE) Post-socialist models of welfare regimes. For the purposes of our analysis, we used round 9 of European Social Survey data. The focus of our analysis was on the rotating module ?Timing of life? which aims to capture the views of European citizens about their life courses and their strategies to plan their own lives, as well as measures the timing of key life events. Variables from this module were used to construct life trajectories of respondents which are statistically modelled as sequences. Interpretation of the obtained results leads to two important conclusions. First, the differences in the types of family transitions of young people between countries are significant. Second, these differences can be explained both by individual characteristics and by the social and cultural context that determines the horizon of opportunities for young people. Even after controlling the effects of individual characteristics such as gender, age, education, parental education, religious affiliation, statistical differences between countries persist, indicating that a significant part of variability cannot be explained on an individual-level but exclusively by social and institutional context.

Institutional trust, political participation, and corruption: A European comparative perspective

Despite the theoretical and political importance of the relationship between institutional trust and different forms of political participation in Europe, theoretical and empirical focus on post-industrial economies leave the literature wanting of explanations of cross-national variation in political participation. In this article, we test whether levels of corruption influence the relationship between institutional trust and participation. We rely on the 9th wave of the European Social Survey results for an in-depth analysis of the relationship between institutional trust, political participation, and perceived corruption in 27 countries. The multilevel regression analysis results show that the effect of institutional trust on institutionalised political participation (including voting) is moderated by corruption. However, corruption does not moderate the relationship between institutional trust and non-institutionalised forms of participation.

Ethical consumption in Serbia: Analysing its prevalence and distinctiveness

Ethical consumption refers to the conscious decision of individuals to purchase or decline to purchase particular goods, in which their choice is guided by certain values rather than financial considerations. In this case, the decision to purchase a product (buycott) or to avoid purchasing a product (boycott) does not depend on price or availability but is instead an expression of moral attitudes, cultural preferences and distinct lifestyle choices. This paper analyses the prevalence of ethical consumption in Serbia, as well as the impact of the following factors on ethical consumption: demographic and socio-economic factors (gender, age, education, place of residence, economic status, occupation and employment status); trust in institutions (national and supranational); level of interest in politics (as well as assessment of ability to influence politics but also assessment of the ?openness? of the political system to citizen participation); political activism and political orientation and values. The analysis is based on the data of the European Social Survey (ESS) conducted in 2018.