Distribution of scientific capital among tenured professors in the Social and Human Sciences and Epidemiology in the Collective Health field

Abstract:

Scientific capital in the Collective Health field has been organized in three subfields: Epidemiology; Policy, Planning, and Management; and Social and Human Sciences. Based on Bourdieu’s field theory as the sociological reference, the study analyzed the distribution of a set of scientific capital between two of these groups of scientific agents. The data were extracted from the Lattes database of resumés for 191 tenured faculty members of Graduate Studies Programs in Collective Health assessed as excellent by the Brazilian Graduate Studies Coordinating Board (CAPES), of which 38 were in the Social and Human Sciences and 153 in Epidemiology, all consolidated in an Excel database. The dimensions analyzed were inherited or acquired capital; academic capital; political or economic power capital; university power capital; scientific prestige capital; and intellectual notoriety capital. The results presented a profile of the study population in relation to the various forms of capital, as well as a stratified analysis of these forms of capital considering the two groups and a multiple correspondence analysis. The two groups present similar distribution in most of the forms of capital, shaping a group with major scientific prestige. The exception is precisely in publication and citation, considered central forms of capital for measuring high prestige and recognition. The numerical predominance of Epidemiology may also allow greater occupation of decision-making spheres for measuring prestige. The conclusion is that the field’s balance occurs in the affirmation of otherness, allowing distinct forms of capital to have more outstanding space in the measurement of scientific prestige.

Keywords:
Public Health; Scientific Domains; Humanities; Social Sciences; Epidemiology