Produções científicas sobre envelhecimento: um mapeamento das dissertações e teses em uma instituição federal de ensino superior

Abstract

This thesis maps and analyzes the scientific production on aging at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) between 2004 and 2024, from the perspective of Science, Technology and Society (STS) Studies. The research, descriptive and exploratory in nature, employed bibliometric mapping and content analysis to examine 240 dissertations and theses from the institutional repository. Variables such as graduate program, advising, keywords, funding, citations, and the Applied Orientation Index (AOI) — a metric adapted from Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) — were analyzed. The results reveal a substantial body of production, yet heavily concentrated in the health sciences: 74% of advisors have original training in the field, and three programs (Physical Therapy, Nursing, and Gerontology) account for 70% of funded publications. The average AOI of 2.1 indicates a predominantly diagnostic character, with low applied orientation. Interdisciplinarity remains incipient — the co-supervision rate between different programs is only 27.5%, and keyword analysis reveals that each program addresses aging from its own disciplinary silo without epistemic integration. Only 35% of publications received citations in Google Scholar. The STS analysis highlights the persistence of the linear innovation model, the concentration of funding as a dispositif of governmentality, and the need for institutional policies that promote genuine interdisciplinarity, epistemic diversity, and the transition from diagnostic production to stages of development and social impact.