THE BRAZILIAN ACADEMIC PROFESSION: A CASE STUDY

This study focuses on Brazilian university professors as a professional group after the 1968 reform of higher education. This reform reshaped the whole system of higher education and set the basis for the reorganization of the academic profession in Brazil.; This research is basically the case study of the Federal University of Piau(')i--UFPI. UFPI is a state university, funded by the Federal government, located in the city of Teresina, capital of the state of Piau(')i, in Northeastern Brazil. Although located in the less developed part of the country and because of this suffering a lack of resources and facilities, the Federal University of Piau(')i is reasonably typical of the public sector of the Brazilian system of higher education.; The main tool for collecting the data was interviews with faculty members. These interviews were personally conducted and were structured to cover basic aspects of the professional organization. The study uses a stratified sample of 130 UFPI faculty members. Stratification criteria adopted were professorial category, fulltime vs. part-time professorship and academic area to which the faculty is linked.; Included among the basic findings of this research is that policies for graduate studies have been successfully implemented at the Federal University of Piau(')i, where an increasing number of professors have attended graduate school.; The organizational structure of UFPI is perceived by the professoriate as relatively democratic. The mechanisms of decision-making, however, are identified as very centralized with most of the decisions being made by the highest administration.; At the Federal University of Piau(')i, research is still an ideal. Although highly valued by the faculty, the reality does not correspond to the ideal. Teaching is the prominent activity at UFPI.; UFPI professoriate generally admitted that Brazilian university professors are in the process of constituting a professional group with characteristics of its own. The professoriate also admitted that the Association of University Professors as an organized entity plays an important role in gathering the group and in raising professional consciousness.; The academic profession is perceived as a prestigious one in the social context.