A contextualized analysis of electrical engineering undergraduate courses at Brazilian public universities

Abstract

This article analyzes 10 electrical engineering undergraduate courses in Brazil. The analysis was performed using several institutional indices, namely, the National Student Proficiency Exam (ENADE), Preliminary Concept of the Degree (CPC), General Index of the Degree (IGC), Institutional Concept (CI) and Human Development Index (HDI). A regional analysis confirmed that the undergraduate electrical engineering courses in the north-northeast region of Brazil have a different structure from that of institutions in the south-southeast of the country. The courses at universities in the south-southeast region have the best institutional indicators, however, in general they have the lowest workloads. The total workloads range from 4974 hours (the largest) to 3600 hours (the lowest). Three electrical engineering courses have workloads that exceed 4000 hours (the Federal University of Santa Catarina [UFSC], the Federal University of Bahia [UFBA] and the Federal University of Para [UFPA]). On the other hand, of the top 4 courses with the highest scores in ENADE: UFSC, (the Federal University of Minas Gerais [UFMG], the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul [UFRGS] and the University of Brasilia [UNB]), only one of them, UFSC, has a workload that exceeds 4000 hours.