Profile of the advisors of scientific initiation Scholars at the Faculdade de Odontologia at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Abstract

Aim: To outline the profile of the Scientific Initiation advisors of the School of Dentistry at the Federal University of Minas Gerais over a 10-year period.

Methods: A retrospective assessment was made regarding the education, career, and experience of postgraduate and undergraduate guidance rendered by the institution’s faculty who advised students who were fellows of the Scientific Initiation Program from 2006 to 2016. Based on information from registered curricula in the CNPq Lattes platform, the intellectual production of teachers was analyzed, both quantitatively and qualitatively, according to Qualis 2015. To evaluate the correlation between the amount of Scientific Initiation guidance rendered and the other numerical variables, the Spearman correlation coefficient was used, and to verify if there was a difference between the amount of Scientific Initiation guidance rendered between the categories of categorical variables, the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used.

Results: Just over 35% (n = 44) of the total number of teachers of the institution, with different degrees, tenure, and career levels, allocated in the four departments, advised fellows during this period, of which 18 received ongoing guidance, almost 90% of which were linked to the Postgraduate Program. The areas responsible for the largest number of scholarships in effect cane from the fields of Pediatric Dentistry and Social and Preventive Dentistry. The amount of completed and ongoing Scientific Initiation guidance rendered per advisor showed a significant positive correlation (rs , p < 0.05) with qualified scientific output (≥ B3) and with the amount of stricto sensu postgraduate guidance rendered, but was not correlated with other productions and advice.

Conclusion: The profile of Scientific Initiation advisors between 2006-2016 was diverse, with different areas of activity, career levels, and titles. However, we observed that participation in the program is minimal, given the total number of professors with a degree, capacity to provide advice, and the number of undergraduate students registered at the institution. This is mainly due to the number of Scientific Initiation scholarships failing to contemplate all teachers who enrolled in the program.