Vida universitaria: un análisis desde los consumos e identidades de los jóvenes universitarios de la Facultad de Ciencias y Educación de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, sede Macarena A

Abstract

This research characterizes the configuration of university life among young students at the Faculty of Sciences and Education, Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Macarena A Campus, with particular attention to those who use psychoactive substances (PAS). The study is framed within a qualitative with a quantitative descriptive component, articulated through a questionnaire, focus group, semi-structured interviews, comparative photographic documentation (2023-2026), analysis of institutional documents, and digital ethnography. Drawing on an interdisciplinary dialogue between Bourdieu, Augé, De Certeau, Hall, and Bhabha, the analysis examines substance use practices, forms of spatial appropriation, and identity construction processes that emerge in the everyday spaces of the campus. Findings reveal that university life is primarily configured in the margins of the campus (rooftops, terraces, hallways, Plaza de la Aburrida), where students deploy tactics of appropriation that transform transit spaces into places of encounter, sociability, and expression. PAS use does not appear as an isolated practice, but as a situated practice that acquires meanings of belonging, exploration, relaxation, and distinction. The research identifies a gap between institutional prevention discourses and student experiences, and proposes the category of “organized silence” to interpret administrative fragmentation and restricted circulation of information about substance use. Photographic documentation shows that campus walls function as a palimpsest where memories, denunciations, affects, and ways of imagining the university are superimposed. The study concludes that university life does not occur solely in classrooms, but in the everyday spaces that students inhabit, dispute, and resignify.