University profiles in Argentina: institutional duality in the case of the University of San Martín (UNSAM)

Abstract

The present work shows the first results of a broader study aimed at analyzing the multiplicity of modalities through which scientific knowledge is produced in Argentine universities. To achieve this objective, we designed a data collection strategy whose logic was from the bottom up, allowing us to know in depth the institutional models of the selected universities. Here we present the case of the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) whose proposal and institutional model is distinguished in relation to the rest of the universities created in the Buenos Aires suburbs.

The structure of the work has three parts: a historical tour of the creation of universities in the Buenos Aires suburbs; then, an analytical description of the evolution of UNSAM since its creation, highlighting the moments and events that were defining different institutional models until reaching the current state; and, finally, an analysis that links the image that the university builds "outwardly" and the relationship structure that defines the university model "inwardly".

The sources of information used were a set of documents and institutional regulations and in-depth interviews with key informants (current officials in the different areas).