Brazil or Beyond: Exploring Why Brazilian Management Professors Choose to Study Abroad for a Ph.D.

Eric Ford Travis; Sergio Bulgacov

Eric Ford Travis

Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil

Sergio Bulgacov

A Escola de Administracão de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundacão Getulio Vargas, Brazil

Volume 6: 2011, pp. 139-162; ABSTRACT

This article was produced from research about foreign influence in graduate management programs at Brazilian public universities. The study was inductive in nature, inspired by Applied and Interpretive Anthropology, intending to contribute to educational policy. One aspect of the research sought to determine why some professors opt to pursue their Ph.D.s at foreign universities, while others stay in Brazil. The results concerning this particular aspect offer an extension and example of Structuration Theory with substantive significance. The study used inductive and exploratory Grounded Theory (GT), with in-depth interviews being the primary method of gathering data, in addition to participant observation and document analysis. The best graduate management programs in Brazil were selected based upon reputation and CAPES evaluation, offering Ph.D.s, and similar in nature thus enhancing comparability. Most professors chose their Ph.D. based upon opportunities stemming from personal and professional connections, such as having advisors who had studied abroad. Exchange programs are facilitators for study abroad, with some universities having entrenched linkages with specific countries. The nature of decisions made concerning study abroad was directly relevant to personal aspects of risk aversion. In this study, Structuration Theory is most pertinent to how professors and their networks influence students’ decisions of where to obtain a Ph.D. Advisors are intent on directing students to the best Ph.D. program in their opinion, being influenced by where the advisor went to school. Students have intent: some want security, new experiences, or have specific research interests. All actor-agents are reflective, making informed decisions based upon consideration, affecting their environments and altering the institutions where they study or work through reflexive feedback..

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