A DESREGULAMENTAÇÃO E A ABERTURA DA EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR À CONCORRÊNCIA INTERNACIONAL: AMEAÇA OU OPORTUNIDADE?

Abstract

This theoretical essay focuses on the regulation of higher education in Brazil and the activity of the Higher Education School (HES) in this sector. It is an environmental analysis based on the social and economic institutionalism perspective. Higher education has undergone major transformations, becoming one of the most important sectors on Brazilian economy. The regulation of education, such as legitimizing roles, norms and values, ensuring the functionality of the system, is used by national governments as a way to maintain control over the sector. In the context of a globalized economy like the Brazilian economy, it was observed that the higher education system is under pressure from the international educational community, which saw the World Trade Organization (WTO), as the way to cry out for government deregulation and the opening of the sector to international competition. In this scenario, in which international institutions and organizations show interest in joining this sector, it is discussed the impacts of a possible government deregulation and the consequent opening of higher education to international competition would cause to the sector as a whole and in particular to Brazilian HES.

Keywords

• higher education
• regulation
• deregulation
• higher education schools