Quando o sonho se esvai: narrativas da evasão universitária e do sofrimento mental em uma universidade pública do Paraná

Abstract

This research investigates university dropout, a complex and multifactorial phenomenon with serious socioeconomic and psychosocial consequences, focusing on the gap in understanding the subjective and emotional aspects that permeate this experience, especially students’ mental suffering. The objective was to comprehend the meanings attributed to the experience of dropout in higher education, with emphasis on emotional and mental health aspects. This qualitative study, grounded in the Clinical-Qualitative Method, was conducted at a federal public university in Paraná, Brazil, between January and April 2025. The study population consisted of eight intentionally selected former students, with sampling closed through theoretical saturation. Inclusion criteria required participants to be at least 18 years old, identified in the academic system as dropouts who had abandoned their course in the first semester of 2024, available for participation, and formally consenting to the study. No participants were excluded, although criteria such as signs of emotional fragility during initial contact or lack of adequate technological access had been previously considered. The participants had a mean age of 23 years, were mostly migrants, enrolled in engineering programs, single, childless, and had a recurrent history of course failures and difficulties adapting to university life. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. After full transcription, the interviews were analyzed using Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis. The results were organized into two articles: 1) “Mental health and academic dropout: narratives of silent suffering”, which, based on Vincent Tinto’s theoretical framework, identified the categories: the university that makes one ill, self-doubt, and the weight of family conflicts; and 2) “Paths of abandonment: a psychoanalytic reading of university dropout”, which, through a psychoanalytic lens, revealed the categories: the path that was not mine, the path of self-demand, and the path back to exhaustion. The study concludes that university dropout, when influenced by mental suffering, cannot be understood merely as a failure of adaptation or lack of academic interest, but rather as the outcome of a process marked by emotional exhaustion and deep subjective conflicts. The research contributes to broadening the understanding of dropout as a phenomenon requiring interdisciplinary approaches sensitive to students’ emotional dimensions. It reinforces the importance of institutional policies that promote mental health care and the presence of professionals, such as nurses, who are trained to provide qualified listening and to foster more welcoming and healthier university environments.