Evasão escolar e gestão do conhecimento: o caso da Universidade Estadual da Paraíba

Abstract

School dropout in higher education, a phenomenon that has been discussed in the different levels of educational formation, causing serious losses with reflexes in the individual, in the educational institution, in the state and society, constitutes a problem of the current concerns of the university institution. The present study analyzes the school dropout in higher education, in the undergraduate courses offered in the classroom modality at the State University of Paraiba - UEPB, with the objective of proposing, from Knowledge Management concepts, strategies for its combat. Exploratory and descriptive, the research, a case study, covered the entire student enrolled in the undergraduate courses in the 2016 academic year, in the classroom modality, at the campus I - Campina Grande. It also included a sample of managers: coordinators of courses, heads of departments, directors of centers, Pro-Rectors, Vice-Rector and Rector of the institution. The methodological procedure to select the courses covered by the sample considered courses with higher and lower dropout rates in order to reach a good approximation with the reality of the institution's school dropout. For data collection, processed in two phases, two research techniques were used: the first by means of a survey of institutional data from the Academic Control System of the institution, which were used to calculate the school dropout rates of the UEPB and the second, through an open questionnaire with the managers selected for the sample. As a result of this research, we have presented data indicating that the institution`s school dropout levels are between 0.78% and 38.58%, being lower in the courses in the area of health sciences and presenting more intensely in the courses of the area of exact and human sciences. It was also presented the individual knowledge of managers about issues observed in their courses on the problem of school dropout in the UEPB. The results also demonstrate the managers' perception of these levels and the proposition of strategies, based on their tacit knowledge, and point out solutions to combat the factors that lead to school dropout in the institution. The collected data also provided the knowledge about the tools, systems and methodology used in the institution for the systematic monitoring of school dropouts, as well as proposing suggestions and critiques. The study poses as a contribution to enable institutional managers, especially those working in administrative and academic activities, to identify with greater clarity the existing vulnerabilities in the institution and to reflect on the applicability of the strategies pointed out in the research.