Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação no Brasil: duas faces da mesma moeda?¹

ABSTRACT

This article presents an overview of the Brazilian academic and graduate research system, based on data from different national and international sources. The first section shows the system’s origins from the 1970s onwards, as the result of reforms in the higher education and science and technology sectors. The next two sections present the dimensions of the research and postgraduate systems, respectively. The fourth section presents data on the population of graduate students in Brazil, in terms of family income and occupation. The fifth section deals with financing, and the last one, with quality. The analysis indicates that the system has expanded, above all, in response to the demand for degrees from teachers in the public higher education network, creating the largest postgraduate and academic research system in Latin America, but of poor average quality. The conclusion is that graduate studies and research, while overlapping to some extent, cannot be treated as two sides of the same coin. The current regulated postgraduate system needs to be revised, making it similar to those existing in other parts of the world, with master’s courses more in tune with the labor market, and public investments should give priority to doctoral and research programs of higher quality, based on stricter quality and relevance criteria.

KEYWORDS:
Graduate education; Academic research; Research financing; Research quali- ty; Brazil