Abstract

REIS, Sônia Maria Alves de Oliveira; MEIRA, Anita Monik Teixeira  and  MOITINHO, Cleidemar Ramos. LIFE STORY OF ELDERLY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: unexpected pathways of school longevity. Rev. Exitus [online]. 2018, vol.8, n.3, pp.340-369.  Epub June 05, 2019. ISSN 2237-9460.  https://doi.org/10.24065/2237-9460.2018v8n3id649.

This paper aims to analyze the sociodemographic profile of elderlies and the elements which made possible their late school trajectories in higher education, while at the same time emphasizing their routine, feelings, attitudes towards the course and their perspectives. A search for academics productions was carried out and it revealed few researches directed to the insertion of elderly public in undergraduate courses of higher education. A qualitative methodology was adopted in the research. For data collection and analysis, it was used: semi-structured interview, analysis of institutional data documents, life stories and content analysis. The research participants were three higher education students with 60 years or more. The study pointed out that the reasons which lead the interviewees to pursue higher education are linked to professional and personal achievement, to the pleasure of raising self-esteem and participation in activities of contemporary society. For these subjects, the support and encouragement of the family to their admission in higher education, their own mobilization and the social and institutional references were decisive. In spite of an increasing number of more active and aware of their role elderly people in Brazil, the results of this study show that their presence in higher education is very reduced, representing only 0.57% of enrollments. Therefore, it is concluded that there is a need for researches about the access and permanence of elderly people in higher education, which should discuss the appropriate policies and educational strategies to this population increasingly present in the social and educational scenario.

Keywords : Elderly. School trajectories. Higher education..

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