"Such a step always comes with great responsibility"

What do you remember from your early career at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics? What were the challenges you faced when you started as an assistant professor in 2005?

I am always cautious about talking about the years I worked in this field but looking back, I think my story can help people who are just starting in this career. By the time I had finished my first degree, I was already working as a demonstrator in the department where I later did my doctorate. This meant that as a student I got to see how the department worked, how education was organised and what it was like to be a university lecturer. But there's a big difference between being a demonstrator and being a tutor, and I only really understood this when I started teaching.

The biggest challenge as a beginner lecturer was that I went from being a student to a teacher overnight. It was a very unique situation because I had to establish authority over people who were my classmates or students only slightly younger than me. This was challenging both professionally and methodologically, as I lacked the routine of experienced colleagues. I had a lot of questions, such as how to structure a seminar well, what format to follow, how much time to allocate for a task and how to do it in a way that the students could follow. All of this without modern technology, mostly on a green chalkboard with white chalk.

I also had a personal struggle: how to get students to take me seriously when I am barely older than them. I had to find my personal teaching style and develop a lecturing presence in which I felt confident. A teacher’s confidence does not emerge overnight; it is built up through experience and feedback.

What subjects did you teach at the beginning of your career, and how did teaching affect you? Was there a time when you felt sure that it was the right career for you?

I find it interesting that I still teach almost exactly the same subjects – statistics and quality management – as when I started. However, for a very long time, I was not sure if teaching was the right job for me, because I did not feel comfortable in this role at all. I really wanted to prove myself, so I felt pressured to be prepared for everything and answer student questions immediately. I didn't know that it was OK to say, "I can't answer that right now, but I'll find out and get back to you." It took me years to learn this.

The real turning point came after a long period of time, during which I gradually began to feel that this job was right for me. Those first successes, like explaining a complex statistical problem in a way that students could understand, or getting an email from students weeks or months later that a method had worked, and they even got promoted, was when I knew my work made sense.

You earned your PhD with summa cum laude distinction. How has this success affected your academic career? What were the areas of research that you were most passionate about?

Finding my PhD topic took a long time, there was no clear "aha" moment when I knew exactly what I wanted to do. At the time, the EFQM-related organisational self-assessment model and the National Quality Award were really popular in Hungary, and it was this area that gave me a research focus to delve deeper into. I found the EFQM model particularly exciting because it allowed me to track the relationships between different processes and outcomes of an organisation. In Hungary, quality management systems started to be used in universities in the late 2000s, and this was an opportunity to use my research in this area. I worked on projects to improve higher education institutions, which taught me how universities can operate more efficiently. Obtaining my PhD was a big moment in my academic career, but what I truly valued was the chance it gave me to build on this research and apply it to my work in higher education. When I worked as an Associate Dean, I was able to look at these systems and tools in a different way and apply the knowledge I had gained there.

You also worked in several management positions at BME and ELTE. What made you want to take on these roles, and what did you learn from them?

I have always been interested in leadership roles, but I have never been motivated by personal advancement. Instead, I am interested in making a real difference in the organisation. Even before I became Vice Dean, I was taking on small leadership roles, first as a group leader and then as Deputy Head of Department. These roles taught me about the administrative and strategic decisions that determine how a department operates.

After being a full-time mum, I got a more senior role as Vice Dean for Quality Assurance at the BME Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. This was a completely different challenge. It was not just about coordinating the department anymore. It was about working in line with the faculty's strategic objectives. Some of the tasks were very specific, like improving quality assurance of education but I also had to do things such as long-term planning and organisational development. The most important lesson for me was that leadership is not just about making decisions. A good leader does not only direct but also listens to others, supports their team and adapts to changes.

It can often be challenging for women to balance academic life and private life. How did you find a balance between your family and work commitments?

I have been lucky because I have always had strong family support, which has made it much easier for me to go back to work after having my children. I also found it helpful that my job allowed me to gradually take on more teaching duties while still focusing on the areas of research that I was interested in. I also think it is important to mention that the university environment offers a relatively flexible working schedule, which makes it much easier for a female lecturer to balance her career and her private life than in other professions.

What advice would you give to other women pursuing a similar career path?

The most important thing I would say is to build your career in a way that works for you, and do not let other people's expectations or social stereotypes stop you from achieving what you truly want. There are plenty of opportunities for women in business and leadership roles, as research shows. Of course, motherhood is part of a woman's career path, but I think that with enough awareness and planning, you can achieve a good balance between family and work. For example, I conducted research while I was at home with my daughters. This shows how important self-awareness is: you need to know your strengths and weaknesses to understand what you're capable of. The most important qualities in leadership are humility and leading by example because that is what makes a leader credible.

You were the first female lecturer to be appointed as a professor at the ELTE Faculty of Economics. What does this achievement mean for you?

It was a great honour to be appointed as a professor, especially because I was the first woman to reach this position at ELTE GTK. This step always comes with great responsibility, because you are not only working for yourself, but also setting an example for those who come after you in this career. I am proud of what I have achieved, but I don't see it as just my personal success. What matters more to me is that it shows the university community that I have done a good job of teaching and researching. It shows that I am right to combine research and education, and to make science relevant to the real world.

Looking to the future, I am now particularly looking forward to continuing working with talented students and taking a more active role in TDK and PhD topic chairs. Recently, one of my students came first in a TDK, which showed me how important it is to support young talent. I also want to dedicate more time to my research. In the past years, especially as Vice Dean, I have not been able to spend as much time on research, and I feel that now is the right time to focus more on my academic work again.

What challenges do you think Hungarian higher education will have in the next ten years? How do you think we can make university education more efficient and innovative?

Higher education has been changing for some time, and the rise of artificial intelligence will accelerate this. The world of work is also changing all the time and universities need to be able to adapt to these changes so that they can provide students with a competitive degree. One of the most important things is for universities to work more closely with employers to make sure that students have the right skills to get a job. It is also essential that universities themselves become more flexible and responsive, as a truly modern university must be able to adapt quickly to new challenges.

Another significant issue is how universities can make sure they preserve their unique value in fostering critical thinking. With the rise of artificial intelligence, students will need to learn to interpret information, make connections and apply their knowledge in creative ways. My role in this is to help make this happen, both as a teacher, researcher, and leader and to contribute to making higher education truly valuable for students and society.

Photos: Péter Horváth, Bence Palasics, Zsuzsanna Eszter Tóth, Bence Végh