Trajetórias acadêmicas e profissionais de diplomadas e diplomados em ciências sociais

Abstract

This research proposes the construction and analysis of academic and professional trajectories of graduates in Social Sciences from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). The problematic is to investigate the relations between the individual paths and the dynamics of the groups and fields in which the scientists move, and how these relations enable the construction of academic and professional trajectories, with the objective of reconstructing and analyzing these trajectories. For this, Pierre Bourdieu's Constructivist Structuralism theory is used, based on the key concept of trajectory, which is linked to the concepts of habitus, fields, capitals and strategies, as well as the critical contributions of Claude Dubar, from the perspective of Sociology of Professions. The research took place in three stages: 1) the investigation on the configurations of the fields, in which a reconstruction of the history of the institutionalization of Social Sciences in Brazil, in Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre and at PUCRS was carried out; 2) characterization of graduates through questionnaires, in order to investigate their paths, their experiences in the field of work as social scientists and their upper education schooling; 3) reconstruction and analysis of trajectories, based on interviews carried out with a selected sample of questionnaire respondents. A Thematic-Categorical Analysis was held, which included some categories highlighted a priori, such as the trajectories of the families, the manifestations of the habitus, the capital accumulation, strategies of ascension and movements in the field, and others raised a posteriori, such as the role of Higher Education Expansion Programs throughout the scientists schooling, the issues of maternity and paternity, the resistance of the university field towards working students and the resistance of the professional field of Social Sciences. From the analysis it is possible to consider that most of the trajectories are upward, that programs such as ProUni, Fies and educational credits were essential for the schooling of these scientists, and that many of them face difficulties regarding job opportunities in the area.