30 years of the UC Education Doctorate under the gaze of different generations of graduates

Since its creation in 1991, a total of 171 doctors have graduated. Learn about some of the stories, including that of the first PhD graduate, whose experiences and achievements show the relevance of the program in Chile and Latin America.

30 years have passed since the beginning of the Doctorate in Education from the Catholic University, the first of its kind in Chile. Since then, a total of 171 doctors and doctors in Education.

The program, which debuted in the midst of Chile's return to democracy, commemorates its 30th anniversary this year in another complex social context, after a social outbreak and a pandemic that precipitated profound changes in all dimensions, particularly in education.

It is in this scenario that a group of former students, graduates of different generations -nationals and foreigners-, tell their experiences and reflect on the importance that the program has had, as well as the relevance of studying a doctorate in times of crisis.

Isidora Mena (admission 1991): The first

Married, 34 years old and with three small children. That was the reality of Isidora Mena in 1991, while she worked as a professor at the UC School of Psychology, where she herself had studied. For this reason, the creation of the first doctorate in Education in Chile was her great opportunity: to carry out postgraduate studies that would allow her to continue advancing in her academic career, and to do so in Chile, according to her personal context.

Thus, it was part of the debut of the program. “It was a privileged moment: sitting down to learn how to think about education in Latin America, and how to achieve a more critical look to approach research here. There was a critical thinking posture, very relevant to the moment we were living”, considers the 64-year-old professional today.

Isidora, who also claims to be the first graduate in the history of the doctorate in 1995, identifies this postgraduate as a milestone in her life. “As far as work is concerned, I was able to stay at UC, contribute to this University that was catching up with postgraduate degrees. At a time when there were not many doctors and doctors among academics, I was behind the Master of Educational Psychology, I supported the generation of doctorates, and I was in the Research and Postgraduate Subdirectorate ”, she lists her notable contributions.

His doctoral thesis, which addressed creativity in schools, was also key. “Everyone was talking about the need for the school to develop creativity, and I wasn't at all clear that that speech was real,” she says. Her research was the seed of an important project: the school coexistence program You value UC, which she founded in 2001 and of which she is currently its executive director.

From Puerto Varas, -where she decided to live after the start of the pandemic-, Mena thinks that right now "we need a more reflective, critical, ethical look, to be able to think and investigate and deliver powerful keys for this moment of crisis, and I believe that the Doctorate in Education from UC can be a great contribution”.

A contribution as it was for her. “The look that this doctorate invited me to was very important, because we were coming out of a dictatorship where it was very difficult to converse, and to converse academically. At first I was very scared even of some words, and the doctorate took away my fear of thinking, of thinking open to different gazes. That to this day allows me not to be afraid of putting myself in one place or another to think about the world and education, which is such a political fact. For me, the doctorate was a before and after”, Sentence.

Carlos Torrendell (admission 2006): International contribution

It was the year 2006 and Carlos Torrendell left his native Buenos Aires to disembark in Chile and start a new stage in his life. He had studied Science in Education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), and then did a postgraduate degree in Education at the University of San Andrés, also in Argentina. This allowed her to return to his alma mater, and work in the Department of Education.

It was then that he decided to continue his studies. “I knew that the UC doctoral program was very good, I had reviewed some in Latin America, and also since he was married and with children, he wanted to do it nearby,” says the 51-year-old Argentine.

Another important point for him was to learn about the operation of the UC Faculty of Education, “which was quite advanced in relation to our Department of Education at the UCA”, and thus, make improvements to his own programs.

"The doctorate was an excellent experience. There was a lot of dedication and an international openness of the professors and the doctorate that was key. Renowned professors came, such as the Frenchman François Dubet, who visited the University for a few days. It was also a kind of regional and international platform”, says who currently works as an academic member of the National Council for Education Quality in Argentina, the highest advisory body of the Ministry of Education on quality issues.

The fusion of experiences also occurred with their peers. “Almost a third of us were foreigners, including Peruvians, Colombians and me. I mean, there was an exchange between at least four countries when we discussed the issues, which was already interesting”, says the trans-Andean doctor, for whom the program was transcendental personally and professionally. It absolutely opened my vision".

Marianela Navarro (admission 2008): Many opportunities

Marianela Navarro worked as a Biology teacher in Secondary Education when she entered the PhD in 2008.

She graduated as a biologist at the University of Paris (France), the country where she lived for part of her life, to later return to Chile and study Pedagogy in Biology and Natural Sciences at the UC. She then did a Master of Education mention in Evaluation at the same university, where she was captivated by her research label. “I was pleased with little, and I applied for a doctorate,” says the 48-year-old professional.

"It was the only doctorate in the area accredited in the country, which gave me security and allowed me to apply for scholarships”, adds Navarro, who, precisely because of a Conicyt scholarship, was able to leave his job and concentrate on his doctorate for the first two years of the four that the program comprises. Currently, the doctorate maintains its accreditation, granted by the Chilean National Accreditation Commission (CNA).

Navarro was an assistant to the late Professor Erika Himmel, a prominent teacher who also guided her in her thesis, focused on scientific literacy. For the development of this research, she did a two-month internship at the University of Albany in New York (United States). “It was very enriching in every way, getting to know another university, learning the methodology he needed, and meeting people who were doing their doctorates there,” she details.

The academic is currently working on the careers of Pedagogy in Basic Education, Secondary Education and Early Childhood Education at the Universidad de los Andes, in Chile. “I feel that the doctorate has given me a tremendous opportunity to have a first position in a university, to be able to have an impact in teacher training, and of course in research”, she emphasizes.

For her, “the doctorate has made an important contribution to the training of doctors. I am proud when I go to a seminar or talk, and I hear that a person did the same PhD as me, because I feel that people are contributing and that it has an impact.”

Ricardo Sepúlveda (admission 2016): The backing of a doctorate

After studying a Bachelor of Humanities with a mention in English Literature at the University of Chile, and taking a Master's in Educational Administration at UC, Ricardo Sepúlveda spent the last decade providing academic advisory services in school management at schools, guiding undergraduate and postgraduate theses in areas educational methodology and teaching.

“I felt the need to expand my repertoire of methodological tools, and have a greater job projection at the higher education level. We know that now, no matter how much experience one has, and more in the area of ​​education, it is much better to have support with a doctor's degree," warns Sepúlveda, who at the age of 45 joined the program in 2016.

A key point for him was accessing the program's internship, "which also put me in contact with the scientific community at an international level." Thus, he spent four months in Hong Kong, China, at the Asia Pacific Leadership Center. “I was fortunate to be able to learn other ways of doing research, learn from rigorous criteria, join congresses, and be able to learn about the educational reality in colleges and universities in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand.”, recounts who today works as a guide professor of the Master's Degree in Education with a mention in Educational Management and Leadership at UC.

Sepúlveda managed to finish the program at the beginning of 2020, being the only one of his generation who took the degree exam in person, since the confinement due to the pandemic began shortly after. It is this context that allows you to see with great clarity the contribution of the Doctorate in Education at UC today. “The tools that they gave me have allowed me to adapt much more easily to these changes, to be able to analyze and understand the contexts well, and to understand the needs and priorities that exist in education under these different contexts. I think that this is the product of a lot of analysis and reflection that occurs within the program. When one is a doctor in education, he becomes an expert in learning ”, he concludes.