universidade fumec valéria christina parreiras costa bouzada

ABSTRACT
This study consists of possible difficulties found by beginning professors to enter the job market
and about the necessary qualifications to an adequate performance as an academic professor. This
study also studied professors coming from the business environment and tried to understand this
professional, his development, professional experience and the reasons that took him to choose
the teaching career, as well as to know how this transition happened and what motifs took him
towards this decision. In order to do this study, first, an exploratory phase took effect and then, in
order to have a qualitative nature, individual interviews have been made with beginning
professors, that is, those who are for at most six years of professional experience. Professionals
derived from the business environment, who have migrated from business to teaching career, that
is, University professors, of both sexes, were searched in order to create a focus group, and who,
farther the academic career, still do or did have business activities, as companies executives.
From the research results, we may conclude that, to enter the academic market the teaching
academic needs to have a good network, to be in continuous update. When the subject is
professional stability, the majority of professionals think about it is a very hard thing. They
suggest that to have “stability” one must work in more than one institution. In relation to the
aspects of teaching practice, the research subjects referred to the importance of the competences
improvement, not only inherent technical competences, as well as the development of general
competences such as behavioral competences. Several professors stress the importance of the
technical methodological development, that would give a career differential. In what concerns the
transition from managing environment to academic teaching, based on the focal group analyses
this work concluded that the group participants, in the majority, present a very similar behavior
concerning their careers conduction. They perform a corporative labor and perceive on academic
teaching a new range of possibilities. Academic teaching appeared in their lives as another job
opportunity. This transition from business career to the dedication to an academic teaching career
is gradually made with a long term planning.
Key Words: Competences, Academic Teaching, Career, Career Transition, Job Market.