Market demand for higher education courses at Campus Barbacena

This study was based on field research in the commerce and services, agriculture and livestock, health, finance and industrial sectors in the municipality of Barbacena-MG. The aim was to find out whether the higher education courses offered by the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Southeast Minas Gerais - Barbacena Campus, have been meeting the labour requirements of companies in the city. The hypotheses that guided the research were based on an analysis of how businesspeople have viewed the institution's higher education courses in terms of the quality of the academic training provided in relation to the needs of their companies, as well as the absorption of graduates by the local labour market. The research also aimed to ascertain which courses should be offered by the institution in order to meet market demand. The research was carried out under the theoretical support of education and labour scholars, who point to a promising future for the country, based on a current vision of higher education in Brazil. To this end, the methodological tools adopted were a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview.