A contribuição da empresa júnior na formação do engenheiro químico: estudo de caso na Quanttum Empresa Júnior

Abstract

The Junior Companies are considered space to the development of several competences and application of technical knowledge in practice, and they have contributed significantly in the academic field. Thus, this work objected to analyze the Quanttum EJ´s contribution in the Chemical Engineer´s graduation of UTFPR-PG, it identified in the literature the junior companies´ main competences and contributions in the professional qualification of their graduates and it verified the main competences developed by Quanttum EJ´s graduates, as well as the contribution of the same to their graduates´ academic training and, finally, the importance of participation in the EJ for the graduates´ professional performance. For this, a case study was realized in Quanttum EJ through interviews with 25 Quanttum EJ´s graduates, members from the years 2016 to 2017. After, a qualitative analysis of the interviews was realized with NVivo software. With the results´ analysis, it was noticed that the competences developed in Quanttum with more occurrences were: Interpersonal Relationship, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Management/Leadership and Project Management. Regarding the application of theoretical content in EJ, the discipline of Quality Management stood out, and the reflection was the incidence of interviewees who mentioned the experience in the Quality Board as a contribution to the internship selective process, and the Quality area was the second largest area of action of the interviewees. Therefore, it is noted that, in fact, the Junior Company fulfills the gap between theory and practice, and it enables academics even more. In addition, one of the main contributions to the Chemical Engineer education was the professional development obtained at EJ, this professional experience, still in the undergraduate degree, is considered a differential that junior entrepreneurs possess, according to the reports. In this way, the Junior Company proves to be an important artifice that can be used to further qualify academics, through experiences that really prepare them for the job market.