Acesso e permanência na educação superior: representações sociais de estudantes ingressantes no CCSA/UFRN que mudaram de curso

Abstract

Higher education was addressed by the topic of access and permanence in a public institution. The main objective of this study was to analyze the conceiving of the social representations of students entering university at courses placed at CCSA/UFRN, which changed their course, on access and permanence in higher education in a public institution. A study developed from the observation of microevasion as a social phenomenon within the scope of CCSA / UFRN, at the period from 2013 to 2018, after the institution's accession to REUNI. With the research it was possible to identify the spread of the phenomenon throughout the institution. This is an exploratory-descriptive study, with a qualitative approach. Empirical data were collected through an online questionnaire filled by 39 participants and through 07 interviews. Analyzed in the light of the Theory of Social Representations and autobiographical narratives. As results some highlights were found on the narrators’ profile in comparison to the general profile. Access and permanence, as an object of social representations, were understood from the representational evidence on the entry, dropout, and re-choice axes and from autobiographical narratives. Creating the thesis: microevasion is established by evaluative processes (judgment) of higher education, of the dropped-out course and the new enrolled course, and by processes of autobiographical reflection. These retrospectives and prospects of the (re)discovery of oneself and a new desired profession. Therefore, contributing to a positive view of microevasion, considering the investigated scenario, and for what concerns to university management with regards to pedagogical practices, to the process of academic guidance and management of vacancies.