O trabalhador estudante do ensino superior noturno: possibilidades de acesso, permanência com sucesso e Formação

Abstract

This study seeks to understand and interpret the concrete conditions of the worker/student, who attends university at night, regarding their access ability, successful retention and education which expands employment opportunities and income, thus, constituted as an instrument of struggle policy and quality of life. We believe it is necessary to interpret the implications of the relationship between public policies for the higher education and the conditions of the employee/student of this level of education, noting that, for a few, studying at night is the only option for further study. The topics discussed aim at contributing to the analysis of Brazilian reality in relation to higher education which is offered primarily by private initiative which offers undergraduate courses at night. We intend to interpret the contradictions of the economic development which, nowadays, are based on neoliberal policies and the challenges workers face, who are ideologically driven to believe that access to higher education at night translates into a victory. Therefore, we had the participation of 97 students of Pedagogy offered in the evening in two higher education institutions in Goiania, due to the fact that this course is one of the most sought after by students wishing to study at university. We used an empirical quantitative qualitative research with investigative techniques such as literature, documentary analysis, questionnaire comprised of 28 questions emphasizing that the results obtained in the quantitative research were subjected to qualitative analysis. The empirical research assumes importance in this study. Once having the data collected, we tried to understand one facet of reality, and from the theoretical study, we established the connection between the observed reality and the public policies. The empirical data obtained from agencies and institutes specialized in data collection were used so as to capture the object of study in general, while those obtained from the questionnaires enabled the knowledge of the particular reality, the workers/students from two private institutions of higher education. While the Colleges which were in the research are configured by their historical origins and purposes in different terms, one is constituted as an organization and another as a social institution, the results from the perception of their students do not show discrepancies. This study shows that Pedagogy is a course pursued by women, 99% of students in this course are female and the status of work and study has been confirmed by most students of Pedagogy in the two institutions. It is an undeniable fact that the formation of the Educators is performed unsatisfactorily, considering that students of Pedagogy have to coordinate work and study. Most students who were interviewed said the fact that working and studying end up compromising both study and work; however, it is the study which suffers the most the consequences of an uncertain time for a successful stay in higher education. They are, therefore, workers/students who struggle to gain access and a successful stay at the higher education even though the quality of education is not guaranteed. We conclude that, insisting on the need to consider how the access and retention in higher education have occurred in Brazil for workers/students is still relevant because studying for a course that is not always the student s desired one, after a long workday as well as work/study, paying for an education which, in many cases, has its quality being questioned, appears as a partial social victory.