Social Representations about the professional future by Business Administration students

Abstract

The research aimed to identify the social representations about the professional future by Business Administration students. The study included 25 students from the 2nd semester and 50 students from the 8th semester of the aforementioned Private Higher Education Institution Course located in a municipality in the western region of the State of São Paulo. For data collection, a demographic questionnaire and free evocation test were used, based on the inductor word: professional future. Quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. It was also used the prototypical analysis to analyze the structure of social representations identified, with the support of the EVOC software (Ensemble de Programmes Permettant l’Analyse des Évocations), version 2000. The results suggest that the central nucleus of social representations about professional future shared by the students of the 2nd and 8th semesters of the Business Administration course is structured in three directions that give meaning to every representation: leadership, entrepreneurship and professional achievement. There are indications that suggest that this course contributes to the valorization of theoretical and technical knowledge by future professionals who will seek, by these means, a prominent place in the country's organizational scenario.