ZanskyProfessional master’s degree programs are becoming more popular in Brazil as an alternative to undergraduate work and professional qualification in many fields. They offer a course of study that aims to bring scientific research and professional practice together so that the individual is qualified for the job market. In addition, this enhances the competitiveness and productivity of companies and public and private organizations. Recognized by the Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (Capes) in 1999, the professional master’s degree has become one of the fastest-growing graduate programs in Brazil in recent years. In the early 2000s, shortly after it was implemented, about 60 programs were offered, mainly in private institutions of higher learning. In the last seven years, however, growth has been exponential, soaring from 338 programs in 2011 to roughly 700 in 2016. In March 2017, the Ministry of Education (MEC) also established a professional doctorate program in the National Graduate Degree System to strengthen relations between universities and the national productive sector.
The professional master’s degree program is more aligned with the job market than the academic program and is more theoretical than specialization courses and programs for the Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). The professional master’s program was initially developed in the image of the traditional (academic) program. “Over time this situation has changed, and now it is geared to transferring knowledge produced in the university to society by improving methodologies, techniques and processes that meet the specific demands of the job market,” says professor Ana Lúcia Gomes da Silva of the Department of Human Sciences of the State University of Bahia (Uneb). This change has caused apprehension in some segments of academia. The reasoning was that this type of program could threaten the future of traditional master’s and PhD degrees and jeopardize the generation of new knowledge and training of researchers to meet the demands of science in Brazil. “This debate sparked many questions about the similarities and differences between these two types of graduate programs,” da Silva says.
In general, the admission process for the professional master’s degree program is usually similar to the academic process, with a written test, an interview, and a review of the applicant’s résumé. Both are two-year programs. In many cases students do not need to submit a research project to be accepted, nor do they need to prepare a dissertation to obtain a professional master’s degree. Depending on the institution, the final work may be a literature review, article, case study, report, intervention proposal, upgrade or technological innovation project, or instruments, equipment, or prototypes that are developed, among other formats.
ZanskyIn other cases, applicants are required to submit a research project similar to that of the academic master’s program, with well-defined objectives and methodologies, consistent with the type of research the applicant plans to conduct. “In any case, research in a professional master’s degree program must show a commitment to the professional betterment of the individual, whether an employee or entrepreneur, with emphasis on the link between updated knowledge and a mastery of the methodology and application geared to a specific field,” da Silva explains.
Unlike the academic master’s degree program, the professional program is geared toward lines of work that aim to build instrumental knowledge that is applied quickly. “It is essential to be able to incorporate research conducted in this program into nonacademic professional work, merging theory and practice with proposals for intervention that are submitted at the end of the program,” says professor Marli Eliza André of the Graduate Studies Program in Education Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC/SP). According to André, the professional master’s program should be committed to taking advantage of a student’s work experience.
Today, the programs that are offered cover fields such as economics, administration and law, to name a few. However, a few fields stand out. Education leads the professional master’s programs offered in Brazil. There are 82 programs, intended mainly to train teachers in basic education. “The goal of the professional master’s program in education is to strengthen relations between the university, teaching networks and education administrators by training human resources to work in academic and nonacademic sectors,” da Silva says.
Public health is another field that is well represented, with 39 programs. According to nutritionist Silvia Medici Saldiva, coordinator of the professional master’s program in public health at the São Paulo Health Institute, this teaching method may help train individuals who are able to identify problems using multidisciplinary approaches and set priorities, and work with health issues for different population groups.
ZanskyCapes regulates professional master’s programs, but it also evaluates them. The master’s degree is valid throughout Brazil, and students who earn it are given the same rights as students who obtain the degree in academic programs, such as the right to teach classes at the university level. With such a wide variety of programs, a standard is needed to develop quality programs. Some are outstanding, such as the professional master’s program in aeronautical and mechanical engineering at the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), in partnership with Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica (Embraer). The program lasts 18 months and the curriculum focuses on the company’s own technology needs. It offers specializations in the fields of aerodynamics, propulsion and energy, structures and mechanics of solids, and mechatronics and dynamics of aerospace systems. More than 1,400 professionals have already graduated, according to Daniela Sena, director of human resources at Embraer. “Embraer hires nearly all of them to implement projects they worked on during their studies.”
See the Capes website for program notes and the proposed course of programs offered today in Brazil: bit.ly/1DI9DJ7.
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