Uma carreira para si e para os outros: análise temática sobre as carreiras de técnico-administrativos em educação atuantes na gestão de pessoas de universidades federais

Abstract

In the context of Brazilian federal universities, Technical-Administrative Staff in Education (TAEs) play a central role in the functioning and fulfillment of the social mission of these organizations. Among these professionals, are those working in the area of human resource management, who are responsible for providing technical support for career-related routines. In this regard, the main objective of this dissertation was to understand the career trajectories of TAEs who perform human resource management activities in federal universities, encompassing both the objective and subjective dimensions of career. The study was based in the literature that conceptualizes career as a process articulated with contextual conditions and composed of two interdependent dimensions: the objective and the subjective. Regarding methodological procedures, documentary research, narrative interviews, drawing-self technique, and a field diary were employed. The data were subjected to thematic analysis. Analysis of the objective dimension revealed that the collective career of TAEs has been marked by processes of structural reorganization. Union negotiation was identified as strategic for the formalization of, and changes to, the career plan. On the subjective dimension, the narratives showed that individual trajectories and the collective career were partially shaped by the legal structure of the career, with slow progress dependent on the political context at the federal level. The process of career construction among TAEs also revealed transitional moments prior to their work as technical-administrative staff at universities, which influenced their decision-making processes when transitioning into the TAE career. The trajectory within the university was interpreted both as a set of challenges and as a field of opportunities. Supporting the career management of other public servants emerged as a significant challenge, as the nature of the activities performed places TAEs in constant interaction with multiple actors in everyday university life, including staff members and service users. At the same time, the trajectories constructed by these professionals revealed opportunities for personal and professional fulfillment. In addition, they experienced career transitions as TAEs, such as participation in graduate programs and mobility between work team. The participants recognized the social impact of their work within public universities and society, which, for them, challenges socially constructed expectations about what it means to be a public servant. Furthermore, from the perspective of the subjective dimension, the collective career was interpreted by TAEs as the combination of the legal structure, namely, the career plan for technical-administrative staff (PCCTAE), and a sense of belonging to a peer group, reinforced through interactions and union mobilization. Regarding the future of their careers, participants projected both positive and negative expectations. Based on the findings, it is argued that the TAE career is configured as hybrid, as it articulates traditional career elements with those associated with protean and boundaryless career configurations. Thus, it is concluded that experiencing a career as a TAE in the area of human resource management involved attending to one’s own professional development while simultaneously dealing with the careers of others across different contexts, amid the contradictions present in everyday work and in the construction of individual trajectories: a career for oneself and for others.