-
higher education; permanence; Tutoring Program; social representations; UFRN.
Amidst the various educational programs within undergraduate studies at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), our research focuses specifically on the Tutoring Program. This program provides support to groups of students with lower academic performance, prioritizing incoming students to help them adapt to higher education. The educational projects that implement tutoring actions involve faculty, administrative staff, and undergraduate students as team members, targeting undergraduate students as beneficiaries. Established in October 2018, the Tutoring Program is one of the more recently implemented educational initiatives at UFRN and is currently expanding. Our research aims to explore the social representation of participants regarding the Tutoring Program and how this representation influences the program's objectives, particularly concerning student integration and retention in higher education. To address our research questions, we employed a theoretical and methodological framework focused on identifying the social representations held by those involved in the UFRN Tutoring Program. Throughout our study, we examined how the objectives of tutoring have been operationalized, the procedures followed, and the participants' understanding of the program. Our methodology included qualitative and quantitative bibliographic and documentary research. The theoretical basis drew from Theory of Social Representations (TSR), as articulated by authors like Moscovici (2003) and Jodelet (2001). Empirically, we used the Free Word Association Technique (FWAT), questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and reflective groups to gather data. For analysis, we applied Central Core Theory (Abric, 1998), Content Analysis (Bardin, 2011), and the Representational Spiral System (Melo et al., 2023). From this investigation, it was possible to understand elements of the participants' representations and conclude that they aim at the Tutoring Program as an instrument to help in the teaching-learning process and welcoming the student into higher education, despite some discrepancies observed, arising from the anchoring process. These insights allowed us to critically assess the program's implementation and propose improvements such as developing a handbook. Ultimately, our goal is to enhance the effectiveness of the Tutoring Program, promoting greater integration and retention of students in higher education.