Evasão na educação superior: um estudo de caso dos cursos de graduação da Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul - Campus Erechim

Abstract

In this study, we investigate student dropout in the undergraduate courses offered at the Federal University of Fronteira Sul (UFFS), an institution created from the higher education expansion agenda proposed by the Lula Government in the 2000s. The aim of the research is to identify and analyze how student dropout is characterized in eight undergraduate courses offered by UFFS - Campus Erechim and why the students leave the courses, as well as present proposals for actions aimed at preventing and combating this phenomenon. The selected time frame was the period from 2013 to 2017. This is descriptive research, with a quantitative approach, from a case study perspective. The data survey was accomplished in two stages: first, information was collected from institutional databases, and second, data was gathered directly from students who left the course through an electronic questionnaire. The analysis of the data was carried out based on the specialized literature discussed in the theoretical framework, supported by the scope of Sociology of Education, especially the work of Pierre Bourdieu and his collaborators, that addresses how social inequalities affect the processes of access and retention in higher education, and the Vincent Tinto studies that deal with the integration of students and institution as well as the role of the institution in combatting against student dropout. The results indicate an average percentage of Campus dropout of 44.4% in the period studied, with a tendency to drop out in the first semesters after admission. We also identify that economic, cultural, social and symbolic aspects impacted both admission and student dropout. Among the groups surveyed, the one that presented the least evasion was the one of students who received academic scholarships (teaching, research, extension and culture). Regarding the factors that motivated student dropout, those external to the Institution, such as financial difficulties and transportation, had the greatest impact. Within the scope of internal institutional factors, the most often mentioned were those related to the amount of money and difficulties of access to socioeconomic aid and academic scholarships, as well as absence of student housing. The research shows that in the institution studied, where there is an access institutional policy that allows the entry of a large number of students from popular classes, especially those from public schools, material difficulties, whether related to factors internal to UFFS, external to UFFS or from personal scope, were the ones that most impacted dropout.