Legitimidade no disclosure em instituições comunitárias de ensino superior no Brasil

Abstract

The research addresses the gap between the legal requirement for information disclosure by Community Higher Education Institutions (ICES) in Brazil and the actual practice of these institutions regarding disclosure and legitimacy. The central problem is to identify which mandatory and voluntary information is disclosed by ICES, according to legitimacy theory. The main objective of the study is to analyze the regulated and voluntary information that ICES disclose in their documents, seeking to understand how this information contributes to legitimizing these institutions. The methodology used in the research is descriptive and qualitative, based on content analysis of mandatory reports, such as financial statements, the activity report, and the Self-Assessment Committee (CPA) report, as well as other voluntary documents published by ICES on their websites. The sample consisted of institutions that make these obrigatory reports available, focusing on understanding the level of evidence of the disclosed information and compliance with the legal requirements. The results show that some ICES disclose information partially, while others fully comply with legal requirements. The research also identifies that those analised institutions presente a higher level of disclosure, principally for the higher grade indicadors for the stakeholders. It is concluded that there is a misalignment between regulatory requirements and ICES disclosure practices, and greater effort is needed for institutions to align their publications with stakeholder expectations and legislation. Such alignment would contribute to increasing the legitimacy of ICES in society.