A mobilidade acadêmica outgoing na Universidade Federal do Pampa: olhares discentes

Abstract

This work aims to identify how international academic mobility contributes to personal, academic and professional development of students at Universidade Federal do Pampa who undertook a period of study abroad. Internationalization of higher education represents an important asset as to insert Higher Education Institutions in a global perspective, and academic mobility being one of the most relevant actions in promoting internationalization. The theoretical framework is based mainly on Altbach (1998, 2016), Knight (2003, 2004, 2008, 2020), Stallivieri (2014, 2017) in regards to internationalization of higher education, Stallivieri (2014, 2017), Morosini (2019) UNESCO (2009), Nascimento et al. (2004) and Freitas (2009) who approach international academic mobility and Leite; Genro; Braga (2011), Cunha (2006, 2018), Forster et al. (2006) Leite & Fernandes (2011) e Fernandes, Zanche e Konarzewski (2006) who discuss pedagogical innovation. The research is a case study (YIN, 2015; MINAYO, 2005). The data collection was made through surveys, interviews and documents analysis. The subjects are Unipampa undergraduate students who participated in international mobility programs, and the institution’s regulations were the focus of the documents analysis. This is a qualitative research, of qualitative and quantitative data. The data analysis was done by approximation with Discursive Textual Analysis – ATD, based on Moraes and Galiazzi (2016) and Lima et al. (2019). Four categories for International Academic Mobility (MAI) were organized: MAI in a personal setting; MAI in the academic context; MAI as a possibility for pedagogical innovation and MAI in a professional setting. MAI contributions in a personal setting are related to the improvement of skills and abilities hat convey to a better interaction with the other and the world. In the academic setting, reports have shown that the experience of studying in well ranked international institutions impacts positively in their academic life. Concerning the professional setting, it is realized that MAI represents and advantage in the job search, mainly due to languages skills and the ability to work in the most diverse situations. It was identified that international academic mobility represents pedagogical innovation when highlights the student as the protagonist, reconstructs knowledge, encourages shared management and, most of all, erupts the traditional teaching and learning. It was noticed that outgoing MAI is rarely present in the institutional regulations approached.