Researchers under pressure: a comparative study of new forms of producing, advising and transmitting knowledge (Brazil-European Community)

Author(s):

Elisa Maria QuartieroLucidio Bianchetti

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 07 C, Academic Work

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-29

15:30-17:00

Room:

HG; HS 29

Chair:

Monne Wihlborg

Contribution

This text discusses the partial results of the study: “Researchers under pressure. Graduate production and transmission of knowledge and emergence of a new temporality (CNPq/CAPES/2005-2010) which investigates the research, production and transmission of knowledge and the related demands and repercussions on the life and work of researchers. The analysis focuses on changes in the organization of labor and production of knowledge among researchers in the humanities considering the rules for evaluation and financing implemented since the mid 1990s. In Brazil, these changes have provoked a drastic reduction of time for the conclusion of masters and doctorates and a stronger demand for researchers to produce, as established by the determinations of the Coordinating Agency for Improvement in Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). These two factors influence how researchers advise, produce and transmit knowledge. Since 2008, we have expanded our universe of research to the European Community, to determine how these aspects influence the lives of European researchers, specifically those related to the policies within the Bologna Process. The two initiatives have distinct characteristics, yet present similarities in terms of evaluation models and new forms of financing and control, which strongly influence the research agenda and process. Recently, studies have been disseminated that indicate repercussions of the productive and competitive surge on the work and health of those who conduct graduate work. In Brazil, Louzada and Silva Filho (2005a and 2005b) studied the education of researchers and mental suffering and the relationship between graduate studies and work. De Meis et al (2007) point to growing competition in the Brazilian sciences and stress and burnout among researchers. U.S. and European studies indicate the degree to which the issue is globalized. In a pioneer study, Sternberg (1981) analyzed pressure on graduate students. Jacoby (1990; 2001) and Waters (2006) focused on factors of concern both for the life of researchers and for knowledge. Thompson (2005) also shows how the pressure to publish affects the activity of editors, who are increasingly pressured by highly stressed researchers searching for publication outlets, on which they depend for evaluation and financing. In France, Hess (2006) criticizes recent changes in the organization of graduate work, highlighting the process of dissertation and thesis advising and how this is affected by reduced time and resources.

Method

This is a comparative study of the life and work of Brazilian researchers influenced by CAPES regulations, and of European researchers under the scope of the Bologna Process. The methodological references used for the comparative study were: Nóvoa (1995, 2000, 2001), Carnoy and Samoff (1993), Zemelman (2003), Moraes and Pacheco (2003) and Malet (2004); and for content analysis Bardin (1977). The procedures included mapping and analysis of studies undertaken in Brazil and the European Community about the decreased time of graduate education and the impacts of this on the production, advising and transmission of the knowledge of researchers. Data was collected via questionnaires and interviews with 74 researchers in graduate humanities courses in Brazil. In the EC, interviews were conducted with 15 researchers, and documents from multilateral agencies were analyzed.

Expected Outcomes

The researchers’ declarations indicate the intensification of the work process and the repercussions on the production and transmission of knowledge, as well as on their lives. They report that they are concomitantly submit to the pressure of absolute and relative surplus value and feel the consequences of this on increased productivity and psychosomatic factors. They indicate the harm current evaluation processes for graduate studies have on the qualified production of knowledge and its transmission, and on their health and quality of life. Productivity, competition, “productivism”, burnout, labor illnesses, cheapening of education, ranking, pressure, stress and reduced time are some of the words or expressions present in the researchers’ statements. Nevertheless, there are many researchers who indicate that there are positive aspects to these new graduate study policies. They highlight: more publication, work in networks and the expansion of partnerships among researchers inside and outside national and international institutions.

References

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Author Information

Elisa Maria Quartiero

State University of Santa Catarina (UDESC) Brazil

Lucidio Bianchetti

Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) Brazil

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