Silva, Rodrigo Rogerio Cerqueira da (2025) 'Was it worth it in the end'? A study of civil engineering graduates engineering graduates from three private universities in São Paulo. PhD thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil.
Abstract
The transition from graduation to the competitive and specialised job market is one of the main challenges faced by graduates from higher education institutions, especially given the growing changes that have taken place in various sectors, including construction, in the face of new technologies with new demands for professionals. In addition to technical qualifications, socio-economic and cultural conditions and the type of higher education institution attended by civil engineering graduates contribute to making the competition for vacancies in the construction sector even more competitive. Public policies for higher education in recent years have led to an increase in the number of private higher education institutions in Brazil, contributing to the expansion and massification of this level of education, enabling access to the education system for different social groups. The heterogeneity of students in private and public institutions is marked by economic, social and cultural differences. This research was born out of reflection and realisation about the complexity created by the expansion of higher education in Brazil and the limited number of studies that address the weight of the civil engineering degree for the occupational mobility of new student groups. The aim of this thesis is to verify the educational path and perceptions of fifteen civil engineering graduates about the factors that contributed to their employability, and whether the investment made in private universities in the city of São Paulo, as well as the sacrifices and efforts, were really 'worth it in the end'. In terms of the nature of the data, the analysis plan was based on exploratory qualitative research using three sets of data: bibliographical research, analysis of secondary data extracted from the statistical database (INEP - Higher Education Census and SEMESP Institute) and data obtained through semi-structured interviews with fifteen civil engineering graduates. The interviewees were selected on the basis of the 'snowball' strategy, in which initial participants in a study refer new participants who, in turn, refer other participants and so on until a satisfactory number is reached. Analysis of the results shows that despite the disadvantages arising from the less favoured social background of the interviewees and the fact that some of them do not receive the salary floor as a civil engineer, all of them are employed in their area of training and are satisfied with their professional activity. Access to private higher education was seen as an important resource for increasing the social capital of civil engineering graduates. The results obtained will contribute as indicators, together with other research on graduates and the labour market, to promoting innovative changes in a curriculum linked to the needs of the construction sector.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Sampaio, Helena Maria Sant'Ana |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | civil engineering; private universities' private colleges; graduates; labor market |
| Index terms: | database, qualitative research, civil engineer, secondary data, interview, competition, complexity, labour market, mobility, new technology, face, social capital, qualification, private university, higher education, employability, Brazil, strategy, public policy, construction sector, reflection, vacancy, higher education institution, cultural difference |
| Subjects: | real estate economics, professional development, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, profession, management, innovation and technology management, psychology, public policy, Geography, economics, systems engineering, cross-cultural studies, educational resources, research design and methodology, educational institutions, sociology, industry analysis, human resources and leadership, data management, market analysis |
| Topics: | Supply Chain Management, Research Practice, Urban Studies, Engineering Principles, International Construction, Governance, Information Management, Geographical Context, Education, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Roles and Professions, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here