Políticas de acesso e ações afirmativas na educação superior: a experiência da Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul

Abstract

This thesis presents the results of a survey on the access to higher education democratization, based on the reference in the experience of the Federal University of South Border (UFFS), an IES created in 2009 and that is located in the Great Frontier Mercosur Mesoregion. The aim of this study was to investigate the access policies and the affirmative actions implemented by UFFS, in order to understand how these policies contribute to the democratization process of the Brazilian public higher education. It is a descriptive and documentary research, in which was used qualitative and quantitative approaches. The work begins with a theoretical context about the historical roots of social inequality in Brazil and the elitist and privatized character in the higher education, and that is reproduced in the present days. Then, we sought to characterize the role of the state and the evolution of the higher education policies, especially in the recent decades, to face the educational and racial inequalities, culminating with the approval of "Quotas Law", in 2012. UFFS was chosen for this study because of the policies and the affirmative access actions implemented, which make it an innovative institution from its origins. Its creation process occurred differently, because it started from the struggle of social movements, from the historical demand for the access to public higher education in the region. The results showed that UFFS, since its creation, has prioritized the public school in its access policies. Initially, the bonus policy adopted to public school, and then enhanced with the full implementation of the Law Number 12,711 / 12, and other specific affirmative actions of the institution. The data analysis of the new students in the five campi of UFFS, in 2012, identified that 97.4% had attended all or most of the high school in the public school. The socioeconomic profile is made up mainly of students from the region where UFFS is located, 63.5% of its students are women, 85.5% are self-declared white and 71.5% are aged from 18 to 24. Mostly of the students live in urban areas and are characterized as worker students with an average family income of up to 3 minimum salaries. In addition, their parents have low education, which confirms that the students from UFFS, mostly, are the first generation of the family to attend higher education. The data about the enrolment situation presents challenges as demonstrate that over a period of two years after their admission, 33.9% of the students do not remain in the institution. This research shows that access policies play a key role, but they weaken after the admission, just right when the university students begin to leave to attend college. In this meaning, the access policies need to be designed and supported by permanent policies.