Who are the distance graduates in non-metropolitan regions of Brazil? A case study in the distance management course of the Federal University of Santa Catarina

Abstract

The following study aims to analyze the graduates characteristics in Brazilian non-metropolitan regions. In order to achieve this objective, it was defined as study object, the management distance education course of Federal University of Santa Catarina, in the inner cities of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Regarding the methodological procedures, this research was classified as a survey and used quantitative data. For data gathering, the questionnaire tool was used and the analysis was done with descriptive statistics data. As main results, it was verified that the distance education students have distinct characteristics comparing with classroom academics, being formed by people with more advanced family and occupation conditions. Another issue to be emphasized is that, for most of the students that was the first time in a university. These data give indications that distance education fulfills, in this context, the function to get an audience that, for different reasons, cannot access higher education, and thus, can contribute to the development in the countryside.