Pepka Boyadjieva is professor at the Institute of Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She is Chair of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Sociology and Secretary of the Central Certification Committee in Sociology, Anthropology and Cultural Studies. Prof. Boyadjieva is also Academic Associate at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Sofia, member of the Editorial Board of the journal "Sociological Problems" and Vice-Prezident of the Bulgarian Sociological Association. She was President of the Bulgarian Sociological Association (2003-2006), Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology (1999-2003), member of the Academic Council of the Center for PhD students at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Political Studies at the Southwest University "N.Rilski", Blagoevgrad.
Pepka Boyadjieva received her Ph.D in Sociology of Education in 1980 and gained the title Doctor of Sciences in 1999. She has been lecturing at the University of Sofia and the New Bulgarian University. She was awarded the Andrew Mellon Fellowship twice - at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Edinburgh in 1999 and at the American Academy in Rome in 2003. She is a member of the International Society for Intellectual History, the International Sociological Association and the Research Committee “Sociology of Education” at the International Sociological Association.
Prof. Boyadjieva has been taking part in elaboration of many policy documents in the sphere of higher education. She has also been an expert in different committees, expert groups and agencies dealing with educational problems.
Pepka Boyadjieva has participated in a number of research projects. At present she is a leader of the Bulgarian team in the international project “Towards the Lifelong Learning Society in Europe: The Contribution of the Education System”. Her research interests pertain to different models of relationship between university and society; education, science and modernization; life long learning.
Select Publications
- The Social Legitimization of an “Untimely” Institution: The Case of the First Bulgarian University, History of Universities, 2001: pp. 179-196.
- (Is there) A Chance for the Private Higher Education Schools in Bulgaria (2005). In: The Private Higher Education Schools in Bulgaria: Myths and Realities. Sofia: East-West Publishing House, pp. 33-60.
- Rethinking Neo-Institutionalism or Does Diversity Matter in Higher Education (2006). Sociological Problems, Special Issue in English: pp. 208-224.
- Long-term Trends in the Representations in Science across the Iron Curtain: Britain and Bulgaria 1946-1995 (2006). Social Studies of Science, 36, 1: pp. 97-129 (in collaboration).
Lifelong Learning or about the “And” of the Second Modernity. In: M. Grekova and P. Kabakchieva (Eds.). (2006). Beyond the Disciplinary (Self)Limitations, Sofia: Publishing House “St. Kl.Ohridski”, pp. 84-105.
|
Social and Educational Ex(In)clusion: Systemic/Structural and Cultural Factors Affecting Access to Higher Education
This project aims to investigate the systemic/structural and cultural (at both group’s and individual’s levels) factors which determine the exclusion of members of low socioeconomic status groups and of ethnic minorities from higher education in the specific context of the Bulgarian post-totalitarian society. It also envisages elaborating of policy recommendations for widening the access to higher education of marginalized social groups.
Relying on my previous theoretical and policy oriented work I believe that the present project will contribute to the achievement and enrichment of the objectives of NCS by: 1) widening the comparative bases of the program with the inclusion of a post-socialist Eastern European society; 2) putting stress on individual’s and group’s social and cultural capital as determinants of access to higher education; 3) testing the heuristic potential of neo-institutionalism for understanding recent educational developments in different social contexts - in particular, (in)equality of educational opportunities.
The main hypothesis is that educational exclusion is social exclusion in two respects because: a) to a high degree it is determined by the social status of the marginalized individuals and groups and b) in turn the educational exclusion reinforces the process of marginalization. Besides overt and direct forms of discrimination and inequality of opportunities to higher education, there exist some “soft” and indirect (but very powerful) mechanisms for exclusion from higher education. It is argued that the access to higher education will be determined by the interaction of four groups of factors. The first one refers to the systemic/structural characteristics of society (especially its economic and political systems and its social policy); the second one - to the cultural norms and values of society and that of the different social groups; the third one – to the characteristics of the system of education (both secondary and higher education), and the forth one – to the individual’s social and cultural capital. To test these hypotheses qualitative sociological methods, comparative analysis and secondary analyses of the existing data from quantitative investigations will be used. |
