Career Paths for Biological Sciences Graduates: Between Aspirations and RealityAbstract
Introduction. This study investigated the professional development trajectories of graduates from a Biological Sciences program, analyzing the differences between their desired career paths and the trajectories they actually experienced.
Methodology. The analysis was based on discussions regarding professional teaching identity, considering the relationships between career expectations and professional integration. A mixed-methods study was conducted, involving the administration of questionnaires to 97 graduates and semi-structured interviews with 11 participants. Results. The results showed that, although many wished to enroll in graduate programs in the field of biodiversity and viewed teaching as a temporary activity, 61% went on to work primarily in K-12 education (Basic Education). Furthermore, while 50% aspired to work in the field of biodiversity, only 25% had professional experience in that field.
Discussion. The findings demonstrate that professional identity is continually reshaped by the conditions of entry into the labor market, revealing a disconnect between idealized career plans and the actual career paths experienced.
Keywords
professional integration; professional identity of teachers; Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences.
Resumo
Introdução. A presente pesquisa investigou a trajetória formativa profissional de licenciados egressos de um curso de Ciências Biológicas, analisando as diferenças entre o percurso profissional almejado e a trajetória efetivamente vivenciada.
Metodologia. A análise fundamentou-se nas discussões sobre identidade profissional docente, considerando as relações entre expectativas de carreira e inserção profissional. Realizou-se uma pesquisa mista, com aplicação de questionários a 97 egressos e entrevistas semiestruturadas a 11 participantes.
Resultados. Os resultados mostraram que, embora muitos desejassem ingressar em programas de pós-graduação na área de Biodiversidade e considerassem a docência uma atividade provisória, 61% passaram a atuar principalmente na Educação Básica. Além disso, enquanto 50% aspiravam a trabalhar na área de Biodiversidade, apenas 25% tiveram experiência profissional nesse campo.
Discussão. Os achados evidenciam que a identidade profissional é continuamente ressignificada pelas condições de inserção no mercado de trabalho, revelando um descompasso entre os projetos profissionais idealizados e as trajetórias efetivamente vivenciadas.
Palavras-chave
inserção profissional; identidade profissional docente; licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas.
Resumen
Introducción. Este estudio investigó las trayectorias de desarrollo profesional de graduados de un programa de formación docente en Ciencias Biológicas, analizando las diferencias entre las trayectorias profesionales que proyectaban y sus experiencias profesionales reales.
Metodología. El análisis se fundamentó en debates sobre la identidad profesional docente, considerando la relación entre las expectativas de carrera y la inserción laboral. Se empleó un enfoque de métodos mixtos, que incluyó la aplicación de cuestionarios a 97 graduados y entrevistas semiestructuradas a 11 participantes.
Resultados. Los resultados mostraron que, si bien muchos deseaban cursar estudios de posgrado en el ámbito de la Biodiversidad y consideraban la docencia como una actividad temporal, el 61% terminó trabajando principalmente en educación básica. Asimismo, aunque el 50% aspiraba a trabajar en el campo de la Biodiversidad, solo el 25% adquirió experiencia profesional en esa área.
Discusión. Los hallazgos demuestran que la identidad profesional se redefine continuamente según las condiciones de inserción en el mercado laboral, lo que revela una discrepancia entre los planes de carrera idealizados y las trayectorias profesionales reales.
Palabras clave
inserción profesional; identidad profesional docente; licenciatura en Ciencias Biológicas.
1 Introduction
Since Brazil’s return to democracy, improving the training of basic education (K-12 education) teachers has been a central objective for advancing education in the country. The Law on Guidelines and Foundations of National Education (LDBEN No. 9,394/1996) established the requirement for a college degree to obtain a teaching license. This requirement took on a more specific direction with the National Education Plan (PNE 2014-2025), which, in all its post-LDBEN editions, established the goal that all basic education teachers should have “[...] specific higher education training, obtained through a degree program in the field of knowledge in which they work” (Brazil, 2014, Goal 15).
In light of this, a series of policies was implemented to increase the number of spots in teacher-training programs in Brazil; however, in the teacher-training programs in Biological Sciences, this rise in formal requirements and expansion of enrollment capacity was not accompanied by curricular advances capable of fostering students’ strong identification with work in Basic Education (Ayres, 2005; Diniz-Pereira, 2000; Duré, 2022).
In the specific case of the school subjects of Science and Biology, reports from the Ministry of Education (MEC) on the adequacy of teacher training indicate that an average of 30% of science teachers and 20% of biology teachers are still teaching without adequate training in the subject they teach (Brazil, 2023), with figures varying significantly depending on the state. These data demonstrate the need for a greater number of biological sciences teachers to meet national demand.
According to Gatti et al. (2009) and de Silva and Diniz-Pereira (2023), this scenario stems from multiple factors that influence social perceptions of the teaching profession and, consequently, discourage young people from choosing this career path.
As one of the main aspects mentioned by the authors, the perception of low salaries combined with the frequent need to hold multiple jobs to supplement one’s income undermines prospects for financial stability and career advancement, making other careers more attractive to young people (Gatti et al., 2009). Added to this is the precarious nature of working conditions in many schools, marked by insufficient infrastructure and a shortage of teaching resources, which is perceived by students and society as a factor contributing to the precariousness of the teaching profession.
Beyond these structural aspects, there is a socially widespread perception, internalized by students, regarding the recurring symbolic and material violence that teachers experience in the school environment. The repercussions of situations involving disrespect for teachers’ authority and the lack of institutional support to address these incidents compromise teachers’ well-being and reinforce the perception of vulnerability in the teaching profession (Gatti et al., 2009).
As a consequence of this combination of factors, a social representation of teaching as a highly stressful career with limited professional recognition has taken hold. This image influences high school students and society as a whole, generating negative expectations regarding the profession.
However, in the specific field of the biological sciences, studies by Antiqueira (2018), Pereira (2022), Silva and Diniz-Pereira (2023), Ventura (2015), and Duré, Andrade, and Abílio (2023) indicate that this issue takes on particular dimensions, since even young people who choose to pursue a teaching degree and who, in theory, would become teachers in Basic Education sometimes do not wish to pursue a teaching career even after completing their degree. This phenomenon sparks debate about the development of professional identity as a teacher within the teaching degree programs themselves.
1.1 Career Paths for Biology Education Graduates and the Decline in the Prestige of Education
Teacher education programs in the Biological Sciences have historically been structured around the “3+1” curriculum model, in which the first three years were devoted to specific subjects in the areas of: Environment and Biodiversity; Health; and Biotechnology and Production, with only one year devoted to training in the field of Education (Ayres, 2005; Diniz-Pereira, 2000; Pereira, 2022).
This structure fostered a university culture characterized by a strong emphasis on specific biology content and limited attention to pedagogical, curricular, and experiential knowledge. This knowledge was often organized in a manner disconnected from the other areas and offered only in the final half of the undergraduate program, when students had already become more attuned to the biological dimension of the program.
This tradition only began to be formally challenged when the opinions and guidelines of the National Education Council, in the early 2000s, began to indicate the need to establish teacher education programs with their own distinct identity, with a greater focus on training educators.
These guidelines were expanded in light of the impracticality of training a generalist biologist, with the establishment of a minimum course load of 3,200 hours in curriculum components specific to each field, instituted by the Federal Council of Biology through Resolution No. 300/2012. In reality, this requirement ultimately made it impossible to implement the plan to train, through teacher education programs, a biologist with broad certification to work as an educator and as a field or laboratory biologist, one capable of simultaneously meeting the demands of teaching and the technical requirements of specific areas of biology.
Despite these new formal regulations, it is still possible to identify faculty members and students who view the teaching degree as a program geared toward training generalist biologists, or who fail to understand the specific requirements for training a teacher-researcher in the field of education, creating tensions in the debate over the curricular identity of teaching degree programs in Biological Sciences that persist to this day.
In many programs, this tension manifests itself in the persistence of an educational model more closely aligned with a bachelor’s degree than with a teaching degree oriented toward teaching and educational research, both in terms of the formal curriculum and the actual, hidden curriculum. As a result, it is still possible to find curricula in which pedagogical training occupies a peripheral, fragmented position that is poorly integrated with specific disciplines, which undermines the development of a professional identity centered on educational research and the teaching of biology (Ayres, 2005; Diniz-Pereira, 2000; Pereira, 2022; Ventura, 2015; Duré, 2022).
This relative lack of prestige in the field of pedagogy stems from the lower social status of the teaching profession compared to the widely held social image of the field or laboratory biologist. These representations are often the result of a misleading perception of the biologist’s work in Brazilian society, shaped by “[...] TV shows, where the adventure of immersing oneself in nature ‘merely’ observing living organisms, often exotic ones, in the context of nature conservation can obscure the day-to-day reality of the profession” (CFBio, 2024, p. 7).
This asymmetry contributes to the perpetuation of professional perceptions that overvalue specific fields, encouraging educational and professional paths that are distant from the field of education. In many cases, teaching is viewed merely as a temporary alternative to enter the job market until admission to graduate school and an academic-scientific career in specific areas of biology (Silva; Diniz-Pereira, 2023; Duré, Andrade, and Abílio, 2023).
Based on these perceptions, it is possible that, over the course of their undergraduate studies, students may gradually lose their professional identification with the field of education, culminating in the production of graduates who do not recognize themselves as future teachers in Basic Education, nor do they seek extracurricular specialization or graduate study in the field of pedagogy (Duré, Andrade, & Abílio, 2023).
Given this context, the present study aimed to analyze the professional development trajectory of graduates from a Biological Sciences program, assessing the curriculum’s impact on their professional intentions at the end of their undergraduate studies and comparing these with the reality they experienced after completing the program.
2 Materials and Methods
To conduct this research, we adopted a mixed-methods (quantitative-qualitative) approach with an exploratory purpose (Richardson, 2017). For data analysis, we employed thematic-categorical content analysis, with the aim of systematizing and interpreting the information obtained through questionnaires and interviews administered to graduates of the Biological Sciences program (Bardin, 2011; Câmara, 2013).
The choice of this approach stems from the specific characteristics of the phenomenon under investigation and the proposed objectives. We began with the understanding that the analysis of the processes of professional identification and integration requires the use of interpretive strategies capable of capturing the subjective dimensions present in the participants’ experiences and reflections an aspect best addressed by qualitative methods. At the same time, the incorporation of a larger volume of data enabled a more comprehensive understanding of general trends related to professional identity and professionalization. Thus, the integration of these two perspectives allowed for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, while also making it possible to distinguish predominant patterns from isolated occurrences, thereby facilitating the construction of more consistent inferences that can be generalized (Richardson, 2017).
Based on these assumptions, we proceeded to link the data from questionnaires and semistructured interviews. These sources were utilized to perform data triangulation, enabling the comparison and cross-referencing of “[...] statistical data and qualitative evidence produced concurrently” (Richardson, 2017, p. 75).
2.1 Sampling, Data Collection, and Analysis
We conducted the study with graduates of the daytime and evening (in-person) teacher education programs in Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Paraíba (Campus I). Our sample selection aimed to include graduates who completed the program during the period in which the Pedagogical Curriculum Project (PPC) was in effect, from 2008 to 2019 (the year a new PPC was created, at which point we began data collection). We chose to focus on this specific group because, in addition to having experienced the same curriculum, it also offered us the opportunity to investigate accounts from graduates who had already embarked on a broader professional trajectory.
The sample was defined through an active search for all graduates who completed the program between 2008 and 2019 and who had participated in the PPC-2008. Based on this selection, 204 graduates were contacted, of whom 97 responded to the research instruments, corresponding to 48% of the study population.
We emphasize that the questionnaires were administered between 2019 and 2020 to avoid potential interference resulting from the impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the participants’ professional integration. Thus, the data regarding the graduates’ occupational status reflect a pre-pandemic scenario.
The interviews were conducted with a randomized subsample of participants who agreed to take part in this stage. The questions used were based on those in the questionnaires and organized around three main topics (in addition to questions about the participants’ profiles): 1) “At the time you completed your bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences, what career and educational paths did you hope to pursue? (Here you can include aspirations for graduate studies, courses, and jobs)”; 2) “After you completed your bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences, what jobs, graduate programs, and courses did you pursue? (Here you can include graduate programs, courses, and formal or informal jobs)”; and 3) “What is your current job?”
The empirical data were analyzed using thematic-categorical content analysis, with the aim of systematizing and interpreting the graduates’ accounts (Bardin, 2011; Câmara, 2013). The analytical process followed three main stages: pre-analysis, exploration of the data, and, finally, processing of the results, including inference and interpretation.
All stages of the research complied with the ethical regulations set forth in the Resolution of the National Health Council (CNS No. 510/2016), and the study was approved by the UFPB Research Ethics Committee under CAAE: 68080117.0.0000.5188.
3 Results and Discussion
In total, we worked with 97 graduates of the Biological Sciences teaching degree program at UFPB, which corresponds to 48% of the graduates who completed the program between 2008 and 2020. The questionnaires investigated three types of data: professional and educational intentions upon graduation, professional status at the time of data collection, and the educational and professional trajectories experienced by the graduates.
3.1 Educational and Career Aspirations and Intentions at the End of the Degree Program
Upon completing the program, most survey participants did not express a desire to work as educational researchers or teachers in K-12 education, indicating a career profile more oriented toward graduate studies in the field of Environment and Biodiversity (Table 1).
Desired educational and professional paths of graduates upon completion of their Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences at UFPB. Data organized by field
Overall, the predominant educational goal was to continue academic studies in graduate programs, which, combined, were cited by 81% of survey participants. Among these graduate programs, the most common were in the field of Biodiversity, particularly the master’s degree in Zoology. This stronger connection to research in the field of Environment and Biodiversity stems from the various elements of professional identity to which UFPB undergraduate students are exposed during their undergraduate studies.
A key factor to highlight is the curriculum structure, which, at the time of the PPC-2008, included a greater number of courses in the field of Environment and Biodiversity (18 curriculum components), followed by the fields of Education (16), Biotechnology (9), and Health (6). Furthermore, a large portion of these courses takes place during the first two years of the program (Figure 1).
Number of courses by field, organized by semesters of the program. Data organized by the biologist’s field of practice
In general, the courses that undergraduate students take during their first year of the program have a profound influence on the development of their professional identity. As noted in Duré’s (2022) study, it is during this period that most undergraduate students begin extracurricular internship activities, which are carried out in parallel with the prescribed curriculum. Even if students change extracurricular internships over the course of their studies, most remain in the same internship field, which significantly influences their educational plans and post-graduation career paths.
In addition to the curriculum flowchart showing a strong emphasis on greater engagement with the field of Environment and Biodiversity particularly in the first semesters of the program classes were held in rooms within the same building that houses the field’s research and extension laboratories and where graduate-level Zoology courses are taught.
This physical proximity to the spaces where research in the field of Environment and Biodiversity is conducted facilitates the involvement of teacher education students in extracurricular activities, which, in turn, increase their daily contact with master’s and doctoral students, ultimately strengthening a closer bond with the field. This interaction provides the teacher-candidate with an example to follow a model of professional training and practice that is both achievable and within their reach as can be seen in the interview accounts.
[...] I wanted a master’s degree in Algae because that’s what I had seen during my undergraduate studies and through interacting with people who were in the Algae graduate program. Then, after I had finished my undergraduate degree, I thought about pursuing a master’s degree (Interviewee 9).
[...] I started getting to know the people in the Mammalogy department, and then I began an internship with them. I had friends who were already working there, and since I was part of the same circle of friends, I went to ask for the internship (Interviewee 6).
Although the Biotechnology program includes a significant number of courses (Figure 1) and has research laboratories located in the same facilities where first-year classes are held, this has not translated into graduates identifying with this field. This result can be explained primarily by two factors: students’ low prior identification with the field and the negative perception associated with the teaching practices adopted by faculty members in Biotechnology courses (Duré, 2022).
In the questionnaires and interviews, reports were observed that demonstrated widespread frustration with the classes taught by Biotechnology faculty, in comments such as:
“The chemistry professor covered some really dense topics in organic chemistry that you couldn’t possibly grasp and that was in the first semester!” (Interviewee 2).
[...] Metabolic biochemistry was taught very poorly. Everything I learned was basically what I studied on my own in the textbooks (Interviewee 11).
[...] there was a physics professor who looked down on us for being in the teacher-training program, and that really affected me (Interviewee 8).
I didn’t like the molecular content, and the fact that several professors in the department acted in a disrespectful and insensitive manner discouraged me from engaging with that field (Interviewee 1).
Although it is recognized that certain areas, due to the high level of abstraction and complexity inherent in their content, present greater difficulties in learning and teaching, many of the negative assessments went beyond this aspect. According to Rossi, Bittencourt, and Marquezan (2021), problems in the teacher-student relationship, instances of prejudice directed at biology education students, and communication difficulties indicate the presence of a strong process of academic disengagement. This disengagement acts as a factor that weakens students’ identification with the field throughout their training.
Unlike the departments in the fields of Biodiversity and Biotechnology, the Education Center and the Health Center were located about 600 meters away from the laboratories and classrooms where students interacted during their first year of the program, which reduced the frequency with which these new students visited these spaces and, consequently, their contact with researchers and interns in these two fields.
According to Silva and Diniz-Pereira (2023, p. 7), this strong attraction to graduate studies may also be related to an attempt to “[...] escape the precarious working and career conditions offered to basic education teachers,” constituting a strategy to secure positions as higher education faculty (a better-paid and more socially prestigious profession).
Despite the significant number of graduates who wished to delve deeper into research activities, many participants expressed the intention to engage in both professional and educational activities. Consequently, we also identified a significant number of graduates whose career plan was to begin a graduate program while simultaneously becoming a basic education teacher:
I wanted to pursue a graduate degree in Zoology and work in Basic Education (Questionnaire 7).
I would like to pursue a graduate degree in Human Parasitology and work in Basic Education (Upper Elementary School) (Questionnaire 34).
I want to be a Basic Education teacher and have always wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology as well (Questionnaire 41).
This hybrid identity was present in 18 of the 37 graduates who wished to become teachers in Basic Education (Table 1). Most of these graduates with a hybrid identity wished to pursue a graduate degree in the field of Environment and Biodiversity (not in the fields of Education or Teaching):
I wanted to teach and pursue a graduate degree in Zoology (Questionnaire 91).
“Teach in schools and pursue a graduate degree in Zoology or Botany” (Questionnaire 82).
To teach and pursue an academic master’s degree in Entomology (Questionnaire 81).
My primary goal was to teach and gain that experience with the aim of eventually pursuing a graduate degree with applied research in Entomology (Questionnaire 94).
Such findings were also observed in the studies by Brando and Caldeira (2009), Silva and Diniz-Pereira (2023), and Ventura (2015), demonstrating the recurring view that teaching constitutes a temporary job a sort of “side gig” that graduates accept in order to make their most important professional project feasible, one that reflects their core professional identity: research in specific areas of biology.
[...] we find those who view the teaching profession as a “side job,” since they would only teach if they needed to supplement their income or if they had no other employment opportunities in the field in which they would like to work, such as in research (Brando; Caldeira, 2009, p. 171).
From our perspective, part of this view is reinforced by the contradiction and ambiguity in the discourses produced by society and by education workers themselves, who, while extolling the social importance of education, also repeatedly point out the neglect of educational policies; the lack of respect and interest on the part of students; and low salaries, among many other problems facing the profession. Such criticisms reach pre-service teachers and end up creating a contradictory sense of appreciation for the teaching profession due to its social importance, yet they also foster a sense of detachment because of the significant challenges of being a teacher.
In the context of Biological Sciences programs, the perception of teaching as a poorly paid, precarious, and unattractive profession tends to act as a significant external factor discouraging teacher candidates from identifying with the field of education throughout their initial training. This perception, which is widely held in the social imagination, can negatively influence the development of a professional teaching identity, steering students toward other fields of work considered more highly valued.
In this regard, it is worth noting that, during our research, we also investigated the current salaries of graduates and found a similar average of three to four minimum wages for professionals in all four fields. This result suggests that the perception of low pay associated with teaching, although socially entrenched, is not always empirically supported, at least in the context under investigation.
These results indicate that, even after completing the entire teacher-training program, the educational and professional aspirations of graduates are only loosely linked to research in the field of pedagogy or to pursuing a career in Basic Education as their primary profession factors that highlight a desire to avoid teaching, even among students who complete a degree program in Biological Sciences.
3.2 Current Employment and the Actual Professional Development Path of Biology Graduates
Regarding professional realities at the time of data collection (2019-2020), 50% of graduates were employed in formal jobs, 39% in informal paid occupations, and only 11% were not engaged in any paid activity at the time (Table 2).
Current employment rates among graduates of the Biological Sciences teaching degree program at UFPB. Data collected from 2019 to 2020
In terms of formal employment, the data showed that the primary professional setting for graduates of the Biological Sciences teaching degree program at UFPB is schools. Of the 48 graduates currently in formal employment, 54% are working as science or biology teachers in K-12 education, and only 5.2% of those currently employed work in one of the specific fields (biodiversity, biotechnology, and health).
This result is similar to that identified in the study by Silva and Diniz-Pereira (2023), who, upon analyzing the professional careers of 154 graduates from a university in Minas Gerais, also found that the majority worked in the field of education, with 36% serving as teachers in Basic Education (the highest percentage of jobs in that study). These data also clearly show that, at the time of data collection, the field of Education was the one that was absorbing and employing the most graduates of the teaching degree program; combining the percentages of education technicians and teachers, this figure reached approximately 66% of the formally employed participants.
Regarding current informal occupations, we identified a striking divergence from formal employment. The current informal occupations of the survey participants were predominantly concentrated in specific areas of biology, with 45% of the informal occupations held by graduates receiving scholarships for master’s or doctoral studies in specific areas of biology, while only 21% of graduates are teachers in Basic Education without a formal employment contract, and 10% are graduate students with scholarships in the field of Education (Table 2).
These data indicate the existence of a non-cumulative professional training model. That is, a large number of graduates invest their time and education and use public resources for professional development in areas of knowledge that will not constitute the central focus of their future work.
Even though they reflect the current situation, these figures hold true when we analyze all the formal professional experiences that the research participants have had throughout their professional lives (Table 3).
Complete professional training trajectory of graduates from the Bachelor’s degree program in Biological Sciences at UFPB. Data collected from 2019 to 2020
In general terms, the data showed that the field of Education constitutes the primary area of actual employment for graduates of the Biological Sciences teaching degree program at UFPB. In total, 71% of participants are currently working or have worked in some capacity within this field, with teaching Science and Biology being the most common occupation among graduates throughout their professional careers.
When comparing these data on actual career paths (Table 3) with professional aspirations (Table 1), a similarity between expectations and reality can be observed only in perceptions regarding the fields of Biotechnology and Health, but a drastic difference exists regarding expectations for career paths and training in the fields of Biodiversity and the Environment and in Education (Figure 2).
Comparison between the desired educational and professional paths and the reality experienced by the 97 graduates of the Biological Sciences program at UFPB. Data organized by field of work for biologists
According to our data, the field of Education was part of the personal plans of 44% of the graduates, but it constituted the educational and professional reality of 71% of the participants over the years the opposite of the field of Biodiversity, which was part of the plans of 50% of the graduates at the end of the program, but was actually pursued by only 25% of the survey participants (Figure 2).
Pursuing graduate studies, which was the aspiration of 81% of the study participants (Table 1), was actually pursued by only 41% of the graduates (Table 3), demonstrating a significant gap between their educational aspirations and the actual educational paths they followed after obtaining their degree. Of this total, only 7% of graduates pursued a graduate program in the field of Education.
These results are lower than those reported in the study by Silva and Diniz-Pereira (2023), which found that 52% of the 154 graduates had pursued some form of graduate study, with 23% in the field of Education.
Taken together, these results reveal a significant mismatch between the career plans developed during undergraduate studies and the actual career paths followed by graduates of the Biological Sciences teaching degree program at UFPB. Although a significant portion of the teacher education students focused their curricular and extracurricular training on specific areas of biology, particularly biodiversity, their professional placement occurred predominantly in K-12 education, often without this field having occupied a central place in their career plans during their initial training. Similarly, the expectation of continuing studies in graduate programs proved to be much higher than the actual opportunities realized, indicating that factors related to the job market, training opportunities, and the living conditions of graduates significantly influence their paths after completing the program.
In light of discussions on professional teaching identity, these results indicate that the identity constructed during initial teacher education does not necessarily translate into the professional trajectory subsequently experienced. On the contrary, it is continually reshaped by the objective conditions of entry into the labor market, the availability of job openings, opportunities for continuing education, and the social demands placed on graduates. In this sense, initial teacher education appears to have prioritized the development of professional expectations strongly associated with specific fields of practice, without promoting, with the same intensity, a critical examination of the concrete conditions under which the profession is practiced and the characteristics of the labor market for graduates in Biological Sciences.
These findings highlight the need to strengthen, throughout the degree program, opportunities for critical reflection on professional identity, career planning, and occupational reality, thereby fostering an education more closely aligned with the opportunities and challenges that characterize the professional integration of future teachers.
4 Conclusions and Final Considerations
The objective of this study was to analyze the professional development trajectory of graduates from a Biological Sciences program, assessing the impact of the curriculum on their professional intentions at the end of their undergraduate studies and comparing these with the reality they experienced after completing the program.
Regarding aspirations and intentions, it was found that the majority of Biology graduates from UFPB completed the program with the goal of pursuing a career path in academic research through graduate programs (81%), particularly in the field of Biodiversity (46%). This finding corroborates the observations of Antiqueira (2018), Ayres (2005), Brando and Caldeira (2009), and Duré (2022), reiterating the tradition of Biological Sciences programs to place greater emphasis on encouraging student involvement in academic research, as opposed to an education more focused on preparing students for the job market.
In this regard, it is important to note that most of these plans for graduate study were only loosely related to the field of education, which demonstrates that a significant portion of graduates who complete the program do not see the need for further training in the field of pedagogy.
With regard to career aspirations, teaching emerged as the primary field of work (38%), which contradicts their intentions regarding graduate studies. We believe this phenomenon can be explained by at least two interrelated factors: first, we observed that some graduates have limited knowledge of the concrete career opportunities available to biologists in the field of biodiversity, which limits their ability to plan their professional paths in this area; second, teaching is often viewed as a temporary alternative, used as a strategy for entering the job market while pursuing admission to master’s and doctoral programs. This perception of teaching as a secondary activity was also observed in the studies by Brando and Caldeira (2009), Silva and Diniz-Pereira (2023), Ventura (2015), and Duré (2022).
By conducting a comparative analysis between aspirations and reality, we observed a scenario similar to what was desired in the fields of Biotechnology and Health, but completely different in the fields of Education and Biodiversity.
In the field of Education, this contradiction between aspirations and actual practice highlights the existence of a non-cumulative professional training trajectory on the part of graduates, in which educational investments do not always translate into professional development within their actual field of practice.
Based on these data, and within the specific context of the Biological Sciences teaching degree program at UFPB, we understand that this discrepancy is related to multiple factors, such as: (I) negative social representations associated with teaching, marked by the perception of low pay; (II) the curricular organization of the program under analysis, which prioritizes content in the field of biodiversity, especially during the first two years of the program; and (III) the physical and symbolic proximity to research settings in this field, which fosters identification with graduate studies and scientific careers in these specific areas. Taken together, these elements contribute to the construction of a hybrid, or even displaced, professional identity within the field of Education, in which teaching is often viewed as a temporary alternative in the professional life of graduates.
Thus, the present study contributes to broadening the understanding of the processes of professional identity formation in undergraduate programs in Biological Sciences, highlighting that the issue of teacher education is not limited to increasing the number of available spots or meeting legal requirements, but also involves the quality of formative and curricular experiences within the programs.
By demonstrating the existence of a disconnect between teacher training, students’ personal plans, and actual professional integration, this research provides insights for revising curriculum designs, indicating as noted by Carvalho and Gil-Pérez (2011) the need to strengthen the centrality of teaching as the core of teacher education, in addition to promoting improvements in training in educational research at the intersection of Biology, Education, and Teaching.
Despite these findings, it is important to note that the study has some limitations. The study was conducted with graduates from a single institution and under the framework of a specific pedagogical project, which limits the generalizability of the results to other training contexts. Given these limitations, we suggest that future research expand the scope of analysis to include different institutions and curriculum models, as well as conduct longitudinal studies that track students from their entry into the teacher education program through their entry into the profession.
Finally, we reaffirm that the challenges of training Biological Sciences teachers are not limited to expanding access to teacher education programs but also require a reconfiguration of training processes to align expectations, professional identities, and social demands. In this context, fostering a consistent sense of identification among teacher candidates with the field of education is a central element both for consolidating teaching as a conscious career choice and for enhancing the acquisition of pedagogical knowledge throughout initial teacher education, thereby ensuring high-quality training to advance Brazilian basic education.
5 Acknowledgments
We thank all the biology teachers who participated in the study, as well as the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Paraíba. We note that this study was conducted with support from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel - Brazil (CAPES), under Funding Code 001.
Ad hoc reviewers:
How to cite this article (ABNT):
Data availability:
Research data are available only upon request. Justification: The confidentiality agreements signed by the participants do not authorize the prior release of the audio files from the 11 interviews or the data from the 97 questionnaires. To make these materials available, we require a direct request from each applicant via email to the first author.
References
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» https://doi.org/10.35699/2237-5864.2018.2488 -
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» https://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/25721/25721.PDF
Source: Survey data (2026).
Source: Survey data (2026).