Strategies for institutionalizing State Public Universities from Parana State/Estrategias de institucionalizacao das universidades publicas estaduais paranaenses

Social institutions, especially universities, are appropriate mechanism for the retention, development and dissemination of science, culture and technology in the society. Define and understand the process of institutionalization of universities and their change is a relevant subject. The present study aimed to identify, study and present, -from the perception of key informants--the strategies used in the institutionalization of public universities in Parana State. Thus, we adopted the subjective conception of the environment, based on contributions from Institutional Theory, Strategy and social actors. Regarding the methods, the research was characterized as qualitative, descriptive and sectional with longitudinal perspective, developed through a case study. Survey data were gathered in primary and secondary way. The analysis of interviews and their results indicate that: (a) possibility of adhesion between the strategies used and their achievement in the form of institutionalization of public universities from Parana State during the period when the key informant was the head of the institution, (b) adhesion between action and results when faced with the conceptual approach used in the context of administrative sciences and in this, particularly in the area of study strategies.