Evasão nos cursos de licenciatura em matemática das universidades públicas de Dourados/MS: ação e gestão institucionais

Abstract

The present dissertation has as its research object the dropout in Mathematics Teaching Degree courses at public universities in Dourados/MS, namely, the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) and the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), in the period of 2018 to 2022, with the aim of understanding whether there are measures to control dropout and what actions are planned and implemented within the progams for this purpose, including in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The choice of these two universities is related to local interest, having completed academic training at these institutions, and, notably, because they are the only institutions in the region that offer a degree in mathematics in person. The work is associated with the research line “Policies and Management of Education”, in the Postgraduate Program in Education (PPGEdu), at UFGD and the Research Group “Política e Avaliação da Educação Superior (PAES)”. Methodologically, the study employs bibliographical research, documentary research and interviews. The documentary corpus consisted of the Institutional Development Plans of the analyzed universities and the respective pedagogical projects of the Mathematics Teaching degree courses. The interviews were conducted with pro-rectors of teaching and coordinators of Mathematics Teaching Degree courses at the selected universities. In total, four pro-rectors of teaching and two course coordinators were interviewed. It was observed that there is no specific institucional policy for controlling dropout rates in Mathematics Teaching Degree. The emphasis of the measures adopted by the institutions is on providing scholarships to students, including both assistance-based and academic merit scholarships, funded by the institutions own budgets and national programs such as the: Programa Institucional de Bolsa de Iniciação Científica (Pibic), Programa Institucional de Bolsa de Iniciação à Docência (Pibid), Bolsa Permanência, but especially from the Programa Nacional de Assistência Estudantil (Pnaes). Actions taken within the program occur sporadically, involving curricular reorganization, meetings and discussions with students at risk of dropping out. These are general measures that do not address the specific needs of programs with higher dropout rates, such as mathematics teaching degrees. Agreement was noted among the managers interviewed that faculty involvement in the dropout control is a factor to be considered. Furthermore, there was a need for greater coordination between pro-rectors of teaching and coordinators in the formulating dropout control measures. Establishing such a policy is necessary to avoid the so-called “degree blackout”.