Study of the contribution of participation in scientific pre-initiation to continuity in the scientific career

• Grant number: 24/06062-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Ana Cláudia Kasseboehmer
• Grantee: Pedro Cardoso de Araujo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the current reality that Brazil finds itself in, it is clear how necessary it is to encourage students to continue their studies, that is, to move from basic education to higher education, thus contributing to scientific research. However, what has become evident is a decline in young people's interest in pursuing a career as a scientist, especially in the area of specific disciplines involving Science, such as Chemistry. All of this has generated concern not only for school managers, but also for the country as a whole, considering that it harms the development of Science. Given this, the present project aims to study the contribution of a scientific pre-initiation program to the motivation to pursue a career as a scientist, using the Self-Determination Theory as a theoretical framework. This research is of the quantitative-quali type. To identify the impacts of participating in the program on the lives of the scholarship recipients, direct contact will be made with the environment and the target audience. Consequently, questionnaires will be administered in three schools to all students in the 1st year of high school, in addition to semi-structured interviews with scholarship students and teachers, following a pre-established script. This is expected to generate significant insights into the role of the program and verify in what aspects it contributes to alleviating this lack of interest in being a researcher, in addition to understanding how much it meets the basic psychological needs of students.