The research training of professors.A Case study in a Colombian Higher Education Institution

Abstract

This article focuses on the issue of the research training offered to university professors. Determine the characteristics of the research training offered to professors affiliated to programs in the field of health in a higher education institution in Colombia. A descriptive case study was conducted based on a qualitative approach. The participants were 13 professors with a masters’ degree who are members of research groups at a higher education institution in health programs. This study helped conclude that: 1) Professors receive their research training mostly from their graduate studies, which according to their opinion is insufficient both in theoretical and methodological terms, especially in the graduate programs focused on qualitative approaches in comparison to those that focus on quantitative approaches, both of which are necessary to understand the problems associated with the health-disease-care process. 2) The institution demands much more than the training it offers. 3) The work plans require professors to conduct research projects that sometimes luck enough intra-institutional funding or fail to obtain external resources, with management requirements that hinder the construction of an academic community that enhances teachers’ research skills. 4) Most participants said they had difficulties in writing scientific articles or books and little training in these aspects, or no training at all. 5) There are no institutional mechanisms that favor participation in networks of knowledge; the times established in the professors’ work plans emphasize teaching over other essential functions of the university.