More than two hundred people, orientation professionals and members of secondary school directions, attended the 27th Conference on information about the Conéixer la Universitat programme (get to know the university) held on the 19 January in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Aina Tarabini-Castellani, expert on education sociology and analysis of educative inequalities, delivered the main lecture on transitions between educational stages and how to work on them with an equity approach.
The principal of the Universitat de València, M. Vicenta Mestre, was responsible for welcoming the attendants to the Conference with a speech in which she highlighted the accompaniment to students that orientation professionals carry out. She remarked this as she acknowledged that ‘’freedom of choice in education has to be redefined, inequalities have to be fixed to the highest degree, and the quality of life of our students should be improved’’. Afterwards, Aina Tarabini-Castellani, doctor of Sociology and professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, gave the lecture ‘Educational Transitions and social inequalities: challenges for orientation’. Tarabini highlighted the need to analyse critically the transitions so that they avoid the ‘‘individualisation of choices’’, the ‘‘naturalisation of the capacities and interests of the students’’ and the legitimisation of hierarchies in the existing itineraries. Moreover, she also underlined the importance of the context of transitions, the distribution of the specific offer, the institutional dynamics, and the relationship among existing factors. During her lecture, the professor pointed out that ‘‘politics and educational practices are not neutral and there is room for transformation and improvement of social justice’’ as well as the benefit of ‘‘supporting pedagogical practices that promote motivation, curiosity and the enjoyment of learning to all students’’ and identify education professionals and professors as key figures of the change.
The Conference continued with a panel discussion lead by Alícia Villar Aguilés, delegate of Academic Careers and professor of Sociology in the UV, about not very well-known degrees the Universitat de València offers to study. This way, there were some reflections about the degree in Sociology, with Rafael Castelló Cogollos, professor of the degree, and Vera Massaguer Cutillas, doctoral student in Sociology of superior education (UV). At the same time, Adolfo Alonso Arroyo and Irene Grau Català, professor and student of the degree in Information and Documentation, respectively, explained the evolution of these studies in the last years to adapt to the digital needs. Finally, Miguel García Pineda and Ana Iziar Canalejas Lorenzo, professor and student of the degree in Telematics Engineering, respectively, talked about the high employability of this engineering degree.
This formative and informative event came to its end with Isabel Vázquez Navarro, vice-principal of Studies. She presented the innovations of the Universitat de València for the academic year 2023-2024, among which highlight the implementation of the double degrees in Mathematics + Computer Science and Mathematics + Telematics Engineering, besides an international double degree in Translation. Vázquez insisted in that ‘‘public universities have the obligation to offer the widest variety of degrees’’. Then, Antoni Gil Trilles, general coordinator of the university admission tests of the Valencian University System, explained that the state regulation on the admission to university has not been published yet by this time, and that the 2023 tests ‘‘will get everything that was missing these past years back to normal’’.
The Conference of Information to professionals of orientation and management teams, coming to its 27th edition this year, give rise to the Conèixer la Universitat 2023 programme. It includes visits to the university, that are on-site again and will take place from the 13 to the 17 February; the participation in UNIferia, a virtual fair that the CRUE (the Spanish association of university principals) is organising; and the informative session about admission and enrolment in the Universitat de València that will be held in June.
- Available information of the programme in: www.uv.es/coneixer
27th Conference on information to orientation professionals / Sedi
