La opinión de los estudiantes sobre su participación en la universidad

Abstract

Aunque el tema de la participación en los distintos espacios de la vida comunitaria ha irrumpido con fuerza en los últimos tiempos, el sector universitario apenas ha incorporado el debate de la participación en su funcionamiento universitario. La participación estudiantil ha sido, y sigue siendo en la mayoría de los casos, simbólica. En este contexto, el artículo que presentamos profundiza en el análisis de la participación de los estudiantes en la estructura académica universitaria a partir de un estudio realizado en la Universidad de Girona. Nos centramos en los resultados derivados de la aplicación de un cuestionario electrónico a los estudiantes para conocer sus propias percepciones y puntos de vista en relación con su participación en la universidad. A partir de este análisis planteamos las orientaciones y estrategias que se configuran como elementos y recursos favorecedores de la participación estudiantil, tratando aspectos diversos como la mejora de la información, la necesidad de estrategias para facilitar la adaptación de los estudiantes a la dinámica de los órganos de gobierno o el reconocimiento del carácter formativo de la participación.

Participation in different areas of commu nity life is a topic that has emerged with force in recent years. However, most uni versities have made little effort to foster any debate about participation in their daily functioning. University regulations do not generally facilitate the involvement of students in university government: their participation has been and will continue to be, in most cases, symbolic. In light of such a situation, this article presents an in depth analysis of student participation in university academic structures. We base that analysis on various studies, one of which we carried out at the University of Girona. We focus our discussion on the re sults of an electronic questionnaire given to students to know how they perceive and view their own participation in the university. On the basis of this analysis and in order to mobilise student participation, we present suggestions ranging from bet ter information to the search for strategies to help students adapt to the dynamics of these governing bodies and recognise the training nature of participating.

Participation in different areas of commu nity life is a topic that has emerged with force in recent years. However, most uni versities have made little effort to foster any debate about participation in their daily functioning. University regulations do not generally facilitate the involvement of students in university government: their participation has been and will continue to be, in most cases, symbolic. In light of such a situation, this article presents an in depth analysis of student participation in university academic structures. We base that analysis on various studies, one of which we carried out at the University of Girona. We focus our discussion on the re sults of an electronic questionnaire given to students to know how they perceive and view their own participation in the university. On the basis of this analysis and in order to mobilise student participation, we present suggestions ranging from bet ter information to the search for strategies to help students adapt to the dynamics of these governing bodies and recognise the training nature of participating.