ORDINARY HEROISM

SOCIAL CRISIS AND MALAISE AMONG PPGCS-UFRN STUDENTS

Abstract

In this work, prepared between July and December 2019, the relationships between academic training and mental health among graduate students of the Postgraduate Program in Social Sciences at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte were investigated. We worked with the reports of six people, including masters and doctoral students of the Program, seeking to observe as much as possible the heterogeneity of the participants. The research also includes a literature review of the production on the subject in Brazil. We used qualitative methodology based on life history, focus group and isolated in-depth interview, in order to present the phenomenon with more density and complexity. In most reports, regardless of social background, psychological distress was related to the country's socioeconomic difficulties, doubts about the future of Social Sciences in Brazil, fear of unemployment, academic isolation, strong competitiveness, the organizational culture of the Program itself and the productivist demands characteristic of contemporary society.