Relevância e impacto social da pesquisa em Administração: o que pensam os pesquisadores do Núcleo de Pós-graduação em Administração?

Abstract

The main goal of this exploratory research is to investigate how the teachers of the Post-Graduation Department in Administration (NPGA) of the Federal University of Bahia comprehend the relevance and impact of their research activities to the Society. Therefore, we seek to map how these themes are present, given the relevance of the program in the national scenario, what are the researchers' interpretations of the social role of the university in the Brazilian context and their understanding of the concepts of relevance and impact of research, as well as how they believe that their professional performance impacts the society in which they are inserted. This investigation is contextualized within the debate about the role of science and the university as social transforming agents and is based on the existence of an incentive movement so that the production of knowledge would have more impact on society and the polysemy of the concept of Social impact of the research, as it can be seen through different ontoepistemological perspectives. During the problematization, a historical overview of the production of university knowledge and the extra challenges faced by the Science of Administration, the inherent gap between the academic and professional world is presented, in addition to the phenomenon of productivism as a possible antagonist to the process of expansion of the impact and relevance of research in Administration. From this context, historically, the concepts of “Relevance” and “Social impact” of the research and their measurement challenges are focused in a more detailed way. To achieve the intended objectives, an analysis of relevant documents is carried out to map how the subjects of relevance and social impact are present in the guidelines promoted by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes), in addition to conducting interviews with researchers from NPGA to understand how they see these issues. As a strategy for analyzing and interpreting the data collected, Content Analysis was used. In the end, the final considerations are presented in order to clarify possible paths to be followed in the form of an action plan. It is possible to verify, in this study, advances regarding: the conceptualization about the relevance of the research, the problematization of the phenomenon of productivism, and, finally, important directions were made regarding the role of academics, their research centers and to the public university itself, as a democratic institution of resistance, a transforming driving force of thought.