Dissertações do Mestrado Profissional em Administração Pública em rede nacional: análise temático-metodológica em instituições associadas do nordeste.

Abstract

Considering the first decade of the National Network Professional Master’s Program in Public Administration (PROFIAP), the continuous expansion of graduate programs in Brazil, and the growth of scientific output in the field of Public Administration, this study aimed to analyze the research themes and methodological designs of PROFIAP dissertations from the first three associated Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Northeast region: the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), and the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL). A total of 274 dissertations produced in the program between 2014 and 2024 were analyzed. Methodologically, the study was descriptive, qualitative, and documentary. Thematic identification drew on Bardin’s (2011) categorical content analysis, in combination with the IRaMuTeQ software, while the methodological designs were examined using descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel. The results were discussed in light of the specialized literature and compared with national and international meta-studies. The findings were interpreted through the lens of Institutional Theory. The analysis indicated the existence of a recurring pattern of research themes and methodological designs. The themes stemmed from a common core shared by the three HEIs—"management", "efficiency", "information", "transparency", "control", and "resources"—and were organized into five categories: Fiscal Management and Sectoral Policies; Transparency and Accountability; Public Management and Federal Higher Education Institutions (IFES); Public Services and Public Procurement; and Governance and Digital Transformation. Regarding methodological design, descriptive and qualitative research predominated, combining documentary, case study, and field research approaches within a mainly cross-sectional time horizon. The findings converged with those of other meta-studies conducted within PROFIAP and, in part, with the broader landscape of scientific production in Public Administration at the national and international levels. The study identified an underrepresentation of research on "leadership", "citizen participation", "outcome evaluation", "impact on public service users", "collective action", and "policy implementation", as well as room for diversifying methodological approaches, in line with what has been highlighted for the field of Administration. Informed by Institutional Theory and by the conception of PROFIAP as an actor within the organizational macro-field of "Graduate Education" and "Research in Administration" in Brazil, the results support the understanding that similarities in the thematic-methodological configuration are related to coercive, normative, and mimetic isomorphisms. As a practical outcome of the research, recommendations were formulated for PROFIAP’s National Steering Committee and subsequently systematized in a Final Technical Report, which presents the findings, fosters reflection, and signals possibilities for future research and for the academic and administrative management of the program as a strategic initiative in Brazil’s graduate education in Public Administration.