ATTRACTIVENESS FACTORS FOR STUDENTS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Abstract

The higher educational market in Brazil is becoming more and more competitive due to the possibilities propitiated by the Guidelines and Basis for Education Law (LDB). After approval of the LDB in 1996, Business Administration undergraduate programs have increased its offer more than the increase in demand in the period, forcing higher education institutions (IES) to adopt marketing strategies to attract, satisfy and maintain students in such programs. The objective of this work is to identify the factors which attracted students for the Business Administration undergraduate programs in two IES – one in Joinville (SC) and the other in Blumenau (SC) – by means of a traversal quantitative descriptive research with students of the first semester. A survey composed of 7 predominantly closed questions and 42 sentences to be evaluated by a Likert scale was used for the gathering of data. In accordance to the calculation of the sample, 268 answered questionnaires were necessary. Students of the first semester of the Business Administration program of the IES under study have average age of 21,5 years, are predominantly of the female gender and are already part of the economically active population. The survey demonstrated that among the factors which attract students for the Business Administration undergraduate courses are the potential employability of the programs, the IES image to the general public and other factors related to the labor market. Results also indicate that the quality of the education, the infrastructure and the facilities of the IES are considered more relevant than issues regarding personal motivations. It is concluded, thus, that the path to attract students for the institutions under study follows the analysis of the above-presented key factors.