Os intercambistas do Programa Minas Mundi: perfil, motivações e experiências

Abstract

The thesis investigates the phenomena of the internationalization of university students, as made viable by one of Brazils large public universities, and does so in light of the theoretical perspectives of the Sociology of Education, to the degree in which it is of interest to the social groups that benefit from such educational offerings; the reasons which lead them to seek these opportunities; and the effects an international experience has upon the formation of the contemporary university youth. The method of approach towards the subject of internationalization of university studies is conducted from the viewpoint of the motivating factors and practices of the beneficiaries of such institutional mobility opportunities through the effects of the experience of institutional mobility upon the life of the graduate, taking into account the type of project formulated by the young people involved and by highlighting the exchange from the perspective of the identity experiences and the shaping of the cosmopolitan subject. The choice of the empirical field fell to the program of academic mobility, Minas Mundi, for graduates of UFMG (the Federal University of Minas Gerais). A questionnaire was responded to 171 students who participated in the aforementioned program as cited in its 2014 review, with the aim of identifying the social and educational profile of the exchange-program candidates. Further to this, two semi-directed interviews were held with 25 of these students (one prior to, and the other following the exchange), comprising 50 interviews in total. The results indicated the existence of two groups of beneficiaries of the Minas Mundi Program, each with differing social and academic conditions. The two groups were further distinguished by their motivation towards the exchange program, which oscillated between more immediate and pragmatic factors (for students from a lower social standing) to motivations involving more the aspects of personal identity and realization (for students from higher social classes). Nevertheless, in terms of the international experience, both groups proved similar in respect of acquiring a cosmopolitan disposition and in the metamorphosis of identity they experienced, with a highlight on the opportunity of self recognition and understanding and on the development of the sense of autonomy, thus contributing to the rites of passage towards adult life.