Fonoaudiologia como opção de carreira universitária: estudo exploratórioSpeech Language Pathology and Audiology as a higher education option: exploratory study

Abstract

Conflict of interest: non existent a period where the student has to choose whether to join an institution of higher education based on factors such as their socioeconomic profile. One option is enrolling at an undergraduate course that may offer different habilitations and usually last four years 1 . The National Health Council has recognized fourteen higher-education careers within healthrelated fields: biomedicine, biology, physical education, nursing, physiotherapy, medicine, veterinary medicine, nutritional sciences, dentistry, psychology, social work, occupational therapy and SLP-AudiologyAs far as the latter is concerned, the foundations of this career in Brazil were set in the sixties, with the creation of an SPL-Audiology undergraduate course at the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in 1960 and, a year after, at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of Sao Paulo. In 1976, with the approval of a course ABSTRACT Purpose: to identify factors that led Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology students to choose the career as well as the information they would have liked to receive before entering College. Methods: exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional study. SLP-Audiology students of undergraduate courses in the University of São Paulo (Bauru, São Paulo and Ribeirão Preto campus) and graduate students (Bauru campus) were asked to complete, anonymously, an online questionnaire consisting of 10 questions about their career choices and about the sources and adequacy of information regarding the SLP-Audiology profession before college entrance examination. Results: the questionnaire was answered 201 individuals (144 undergraduates and 57 graduates). SLP-Audiology was the first career option for 119 (59.2%) of the participants. Interest in the profession was the motivator of choice for 42% of the participants. For 58% of respondents, the University status, the candidate/vacancy ratio and the influence of family members, among others, led to the SLP-Audiology career choice. Profession guides were the main sources of information and 80% of respondents were not satisfied with the information received before entering College, most indicating they would like to learn more about the areas where SLP-Audiologists can work. Conclusion: factors unrelated to career affinity where the motivator for the choice of SLP-Audiology profession for most participants. There is need to intensify the information process about this career especially among high school students.

Analysis of the expansion of supply and demand of Speech-Language Pathology/Audiology courses in Brazil between 1994 and 2014

“…However, the number of vacancies in the private institutions decreased from 8,386 (peak in 2010) to 7,099 (2014) (15.3% drop) and the number of courses reduced from 86 (peak in 2002) to 58 (2014, 32.5% drop). This decrease can be explained by the low demand for the course, which, in turn, can be attributed to the low recognition and appreciation in the labor market [10][11][12] . Authors point to the positive and significant effect of the average salary factor of the profession on the professional choice 13 .…”

“…It is speculated that there will be an increase in the demand for speech-language pathologists/audiologists in the coming decades, as advances in the medical field provide a higher life expectancy with a consequent increase in the elderly population, as well as an increase in the survival rate of preterm babies and of victims of trauma and stroke. Other factors include policies for early identification of alterations such as the universal neonatal hearing screening and the inclusion of people with special needs in the regular education 10 .…”

Factors that Influenced Lndian Wtudents to Choose the Career of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology: A Questionnaire Based Study

“…Numerous factors influence higher education and career choices, encompassing personal and social dimensions, which involve influences from one's own family and peers, education, work possibilities, and other external factors related to social, political, economic, and cultural issues. All these factors continually act upon an individual, influencing and being influenced by the human vocational journey [9]. In addition, academic performance, aspirations, gender, and cultural background can also influence career choice [10].…”

“…Studies conducted in different countries have attempted to investigate the factors influencing the career choice of ASLP students/professionals. Most of these studies have included students and/or professionals in ASLP [9,[11][12][13][14][15][16], but Rockwood and Madison [17] also included a group of prospective ASLP students. Furthermore, Patterson and Woodward [18] included ASLP program applicants and students who were yet to decide their career.…”

“…The number of ASLP students/professionals who participanted in these studies ranged from 16 [13] to 474 [16]. The majority of the studies [9,12,[14][15][16][17][18] used questionnaire based survey method to collect the data while Boyd and Hewlett [11] used both interview and questionnaire method, and Byrne [13] conducted only in-depth interview of the participants.…”