O Doutorado em Agronomia - Ciência do Solo da UFRRJ: percepção dos egressos sobre o programa e seu perfil sócio profissional

Abstract

The impact in the society of a stricto sensu Graduate Program, whether by qualifying professionals or by the results of their research application, represents the fulfillment of the institutional objectives of the graduate program, and is a way to evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness. The research with alumni is an important source of information and a valuable tool for assessing the institutional quality and social impact. The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) has recently revised its evaluation policy for the Postgraduate Programs, for the next four-year period (ending in 2020), significantly valuing the destination of graduates and the social impacts of the programs. However, studies, related to the subject are lacking and the institutions that perform them are rare. In its 53 years of existence, the Postgraduate Program in Agronomy - Soil Science (PPGA-CS), of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, had not carried a throughout evaluation, therefore it did not evaluate whether the graduates were applying the knowledge acquired during the course to their professional activities, and if these professionals were being absorbed by the jobs market. In this context, this research aimed to characterize the academic trajectory, the professional performance after completing the course, the perceptions to different aspects of the PPGA-CS and satisfaction with the training received. A descriptive-exploratory, qualitative-quantitative case study was carried out with a population of 154 doctorate which graduated from 2001 to 2016. The methodological design comprised bibliographical and documentary research, and the results were evaluated by the Content Analysis. In general, it was verified that the majority of graduates are in full employment, and working in the area to which they qualified; occupying jobs, mainly in educational and research institutions, and they are satisfied with the training received; thus, qualifying the program from great to excellent. This evaluation is in line with CAPES' latest assessment that places the PPGA-CS among a few Brazilian graduate programs in the Soil Science sub-area, classified at the level of excellence with a score 6, where the maximum is 7.