A criação do curso superior em Administração na UFRGS em 1963: Uma análise histórica

This paper aims to analyze how the “Americanization” of management education took place in practice in Brazil. In doing so, we focus on one of the most important management courses in Brazil that has not yet been analyzed by previous researchers. This paper focusses on documents of the communications between American academics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul [UFRGS]) and their supervisors, who also worked on the bilateral agreement between Brazil and the United States. This agreement aimed to expand higher education in management in Brazil, and relevant progress reports were located in the archives of Michigan State University. In analyzing these documents, we demonstrate the development of UFRGS management courses between the year in which the institution signed the cooperation agreement (1959) and when the course was established (1963). This period was chosen because it helps to clearly explain the reasons that led to the delay in the implementation of courses at UFRGS, as well as the actions of representatives of the institutions in this period. Our analysis describes the course’s development but also reflects on the difficulties that faced the establishment of higher education in management in Brazil. We found that the lack of legislation regulating the course and also the administration profession served as the justification for barring the undergraduate course at UFGRS. We also point out several difficulties that had to be overcome for the bachelor programs to settle from 1963 onwards.