Public Policies and the production of knowledge: the State in action?

Author(s):

Martha Lucchesi(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

23 SES 03 C, HE and Quality Assessment

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

17:15-18:45

Room:

B334 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Christina Segerholm

Contribution

Public policies imply a direction and a position, which is realized through “the acts and the omissions" (OSZLAK AND O'DONNEL, 2007) by governments. A public policy intends to address a demand from civil society. Taking a position may either legitimize or invalidate a matter. In spite of being State actions involving various public institutions, public policies are implemented by governments which diverge on political orientation regarding numerous issues. According to Oszlak and O'Donnel (2007), public policies shall be construed as state policies. They constitute "a set of acts and omissions that represent a specific form of state intervention in relation to a matter" that has been drawing the attention and interest of civil society actors. Such state intervention adopts a particular direction, influencing the social process, thus generating impacts and changes. Public education, i.e., education created and maintained by the State, is a modern concept that emerged in Western Europe as of the sixteenth century, in line with the concept of nation state (RANIERI, 2000). Education systems are oriented by public policies for education, which are instituted by the State, but implemented by several public and private entities. Within this context lies the state system of higher education in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, comprising three consolidated universities. This research focuses on the scientific production of the three São Paulo state universities, presenting it as a result from public policies that aim to qualify higher education in the state of São Paulo and in Brazil. The contribution of these three universities to research and innovation is indisputable, as they account for 42.7% of the scientific production in Brazil. The University of São Paulo (USP) holds 25.5% of the country’s scientific production[1]; UNICAMP, 10.1% and UNESP, 7.3% (FAPESP, 2010). These "three state universities are all funded by the state of São Paulo, the state with the highest per capita income in the country" (Lebeau et al., 2012). Although public Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) do not enroll the highest number of students in the state of São Paulo, only 9.8% (MEC/2012), they have earned reputation given their significant scientific production and consequent quality of education.By applying a comparative method, this study presents and crosses data from official sources and shows the total production of each university. It also outlines which public policies from the state of São Paulo provided state universities with the conditions for the production of knowledge and integration within the international scientific community, especially in European countries. Our discussion will be based on theoreticians such as Carnoy (1997), Dale (1982), O’Donnell (2007, 2011), Lebeau et al. (2012) and others. The discussion is guided by the following questions: 1- How has the European model of research influenced the Brazilian university in the past and today? 2 – How and why have public policies and the funding of higher education in the state of São Paulo (Brazil) enabled the scientific production of these universities? This study also carries out a critical analysis of the Brazilian research that has been published abroad, its relevance and whether or not it has enabled the exchange of knowledge between researchers in Brazil and in Europe.

[1] For the third consecutive year, USP (University of São Paulo) is first in the new QS University para América Latinaranking. UNICAMP is third and UNESP is 11th. Available at: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/latin-american-university-rankings/2013 accessed on: 28/05/13

Method

When it comes to comparative education, it is important to distinguish between educational policy and policy for education – the former regards educational systems, management and results, while the latter focuses on the political issues that underpin the intended goals and the decision-making process (Dale, 1982), i.e., what Oszlak and O'Donnel (2007) conceptualize as public policies. Therefore, the analysis reported in this paper aims to investigate the public policies regarding São Paulo state universities, focusing on their scientific production, which is one of the main criteria used both nationally and internationally as an indication of the quality of higher education. This study adopts the comparative method of procedure, using quantitative data on the scientific production of São Paulo state universities. Data were collected from Statistical Yearbook 2012 of each university and complemented by a literature review so as to demonstrate the exchange of knowledge between Brazil and the European Community. The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and allowed for the comparison of the relevance and exchange of scientific production and the analysis of public policies.

Expected Outcomes

The preliminary analysis indicates that research and production of knowledge that take place at São Paulo state universities are part of a state policy that was implemented upon the creation of these universities. Today this policy is maintained and encouraged by public and occasionally private funds. Theses policies present consistent results with significant scientific production and international recognition of the three universities and, because of that, they have become permanent and an integral part of their institutional identity. The relationship between development of institutional research and teaching quality has been extensively proven in accordance with national and international standards. Thereby, it can be inferred that São Paulo state universities offer teaching excellence. The analysis demonstrates the importance of knowledge exchange between Brazilian and European universities, but shows no evidence that publishing scientific production abroad alone is sufficient to consolidate the exchange of knowledge necessary for research and innovation in the country.

References

ALMEIDA , -Elenara C. E. e GUIMARÃES,Jorge Almeida(2013) A Pós-graduação e a Evolução Da Produção Científica Brasileira – 2013.[ The Pos- Graduate and the Evolution of Brazilian scientific production]São Paulo.Ed.Senac DALE, R.(1982) Education and the capitalist State: contributions and contradictions. In: APPLE, M. W. (ed.). Cultural and economic reproduction in education: essays on class, ideology and the State. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. FAPESP - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo [State of São Paulo Research Foundation] Available at: http://www.fapesp.br/28 Access: April 20, 2013. LEBEAU,Y., Stumpf, R., Brown, R., Lucchesi, M. A. S., Kwiek, M. (2012). Who shall pay for the public good? Comparative trends in the funding crisis of public higher education. Compare: A journal of comparative and international education, 42(1), 137-157. doi:10.1080/03057925.2012.635418 LUCCHESI, M. A. S. (2009). Public Policies for Higher Education in Brazil: theory and evidence within the system. In: European Conference on Educational Research, 2009, Viena. European Conference on Educational Research. Berlin: European Educational Research Association c/o Freie Universität Berlin, 2009. v. 1. p. 1-18. GODIN,B & Gingras,Y(2000) -The place of universities in the system of knowledge production Research policy, – Elsevier. Available at: http://www.archipel.uqam.ca/529/1/Res_Policy.PDF Access: April 10, 2013. (OCDE 2013) Education at a Glance 2013. OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing , Publication date: 26 Sep 2013 Access: December 28, 2013. O’DONNEL, G. (2011). Democracia, agência e estado: teoria com intenção comparativa [Democracy, agency and state: theory with comparative intent]. São Paulo: Paz e Terra. OSZLAK, OSCAR; O’DONNELL, GUILLERMO.(2007) Estado y políticas estatales en América Latina: hacia una estrategia de investigación. Lecturas sobre el Estado y las políticas públicas: retomando el debate de ayer para fortalecer el actual. Buenos Aires: Publicación del Proyecto de Modernización del Estado Jefatura de Gabinete de Ministros de la Nación,Buenos Aires, 2007. Available at: http://www.mabelthwaitesrey.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/Unidad-3-Oszlak-y-ODonnell.pdf Access: April 10, 2013. OZGA, J. (2008) Governing Knowledge: research steering and research quality, European Educational Research Journal7(3), 261-272.http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/eerj.2008.7.3.261 RANIERI, N. (2000). Educação Superior, Direito e Estado. São Paulo:[Higher Education,Law and State] EDUSP, Fapesp SCHWARTZMAN, Simon. (2003)The Challenges of Education in Brazil.in: Seminar on Education in Brazil.Center for Brazilian’s Studies.University of Oxford. Available at: http://www.schwartzman.org.br/simon/pdf/challenges.pdf Access: June 20, 2011

Author Information

Martha Lucchesi (presenting / submitting)

University of São Paulo,Brazil

Center for Public Policy Research - NUPPs – (Higher Education).University

São Paulo

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