The Shared Careers at the University of Costa Rica and their curricular management: the case of the Social Studies and Civic Education Teaching program

Abstract

This paper presents the case of the Social Studies and Civic Education Teaching program (EESEC, for its initials in Spanish) at the University of Costa Rica, which is interdisciplinary in its nature and operates under the sui generis figure of Shared Degree. The aim was to analyze the program’s management due to the particular characteristics it presents. The manuscript is a fragment of findings from the program’s self-assessment process. Regarding methodology, the research conducted was a case study, under a mixed approach, with a non-experimental, transversal, descriptive design. Four strategies were used to collect information: documentary analysis, an anonymous virtual questionnaire, focus groups, and individual interviews. As the study’s results, it is explained the sui generis figure of a shared degree at the UCR; also, there are described the two entities in charge of the academic and administrative aspects: the Shared Commission and the Committee of Shared Degree Director. Concerning the EESEC program, a historical outline and organizational structure are presented, to understand its operation and particular characteristics. It is concluded that although the University has an internal normative framework to regulate the specificity of shared careers, it also overshadows their realities, which has as its main consequence an overload of functions in the people who manage them (the Shared Commission).