The Power of Peer Communities in a Roma Student Society

Abstract

The paper highlights the importance of peer communities in supporting successful upward social mobility for underprivileged Roma university students in Hungary. There are many underrepresented student groups in higher education. One of these groups is comprised of Roma students, who experience difficulties in education especially when they lack sufficient systemic support. First-generation university students also undergo hardships in tertiary education. This paper introduces a Hungarian Roma Student Society that functions as an inclusive peer community for students who belong to these two underrepresented groups at the University of Pécs in Hungary. In the study, interviews with alumni student society members about their life experiences in school were conducted ( n = 50). To illustrate the importance of peers, eight interviews with alumni students living in the community were also selected ( n = 8). In this paper, the researchers utilize in-depth content and narrative analysis of the selected interviews. The narrations illustrate young adults’ perspectives about the peer community in the student society and at the university. Results highlight some functions of peer communities in enhancing students’ academic success and their contribution to students’ involvement. Results suggest that in the lives of the involved participants, this inclusive peer community had significantly impacts on their success in tertiary education. This study enhances inclusion in higher education, highlighting the role of peers in academic life. The results underline the effects of small communities in tertiary education, development of such societies is adaptable in international settings. The paper contributes to the discussion of the situation of underrepresented university students in higher education, especially in the case of the Roma minority.