LAUSR

espanolEn el Peru, los jovenes universitarios son protagonistas de movilizaciones de protesta social aun cuando es escasa su pertenencia a organizaciones politicas. Esta investigacion tiene como objetivos analizar la per-cepcion que tienen los jovenes universitarios limenos sobre la politica y sus instituciones e indagar acerca de su interes por los sucesos relevantes de su entorno y la importancia que adquieren los medios de co-municacion y las redes digitales para su informacion. El trabajo tambien se propuso examinar el rol que los universitarios le asignan a la universidad como espacio de formacion y reflexion. El estudio se realiza en Lima, Peru, con jovenes de 17 a 25 anos, de universidades publicas y privadas. Las opiniones se recogen en seis grupos focales y una encuesta aplicada a mas de 400 estudiantes. El analisis concluye que los universitarios desconfian profundamente de los partidos politicos y las organizaciones politicas formales; asimismo, se evidencia que gozan de amplio acceso a fuentes de informacion y estan dispuestos a contri-buir a la solucion de los problemas que aquejan a su pais. El estudio desvela diferencias marcadas entre estudiantes de universidades publicas y privadas en su disposicion para participar en actividades politicas, dentro y fuera del ambito universitario. La investigacion propone que la universidad ofrezca a los jovenes oportunidades para el debate de los asuntos publicos de interes nacional y global en su formacion integral. EnglishIn Peru, young college students have leading roles in social protest mobilizations even when they seldom belong to political organizations. This study aims to analyze the perception of current politics and its institu-tions among young college students, and to inquire into their interest on relevant events at their surround-ings and into the importance gained by the media and the social networks concerning their information. The purpose of this project is also to examine the role assigned by college students to the university as a space of personal development and reflection. This project was carried out in Lima, Peru, directed to youngsters aged 17 to 25 from public and private universities. Opinions have been collected through six focus-groups and a survey applied to more than 400 students. The analysis concludes that college students distrust pro-foundly political parties and formal political organizations; likewise it shows they have a broad access to information sources, so as their willingness to solve Peru’s problematic issues. It also uncovers clear differ-ences between students of private and public universities regarding attitudes for participating in political action, inside and outside the campus. From the study stems a proposal to provide young students at their campuses with opportunities to debate public issues of national and global interest as a part of their overall academic training.