Políticas de ações afirmativas de acesso e permanência dos estudantes de graduação da Universidade Federal do Pampa (Unipampa): entre chegadas e partidas

• Ano de defesa: 2026
• Autor(a) principal: Ferreira, Cádia Carolina Morosetti
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; Brasil; UFSM; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação; Centro de Educação
• Palavras-chave em Português: Políticas públicas educacionais; Ações afirmativas; Democratização da educação superior; Cotas; Acesso e permanência; Affirmative action policies; Democratization of higher education; Quotas; Access and retention; Acciones afirmativas; Democratización de la educación superior; Cuotas. acceso y permanencia; CNPQ::CIENCIAS HUMANAS::EDUCACAO
• Link de acesso: http://repositorio.ufsm.br/handle/1/38709

This Doctoral Dissertation in Education is linked to the Graduate Program in Education (PPGE) at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), within Research Line 2 (RL2): Educational Public Policies, Educational Practices, and Their Interfaces. The study addresses the following research problem: How do affirmative action policies implemented by the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa) contribute to the democratization of access to and retention in Higher Education? The general objective is to analyze how affirmative action policies at Unipampa promote the democratization of access and retention among undergraduate students. The specific objectives are: (1) to examine the historical development and legal framework of affirmative action policies in Brazil, focusing on the democratization of access while considering institutional conditions that ensure student retention and degree completion; (2) to discuss the first pillar of inclusion in higher education, namely the democratization of access; (3) to analyze the historical trajectory of Student Assistance policies in Brazil in connection with the development of public universities, highlighting the structural contradictions that shape retention policies in higher education; and (4) to analyze the institutional context in which access and retention policies are implemented at the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa). Methodologically, the study adopts a mixed-methods approach with a predominance of qualitative analysis (FLICK, 2009; LÜDKE; ANDRÉ, 1986), developed through a case study (YIN, 2015) conducted at Unipampa, a multicampus public university located in the southern border region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The methodological procedures included a literature review, the development of a State of Knowledge study (MOROSINI et al., 2021), documentary analysis, and the examination of institutional data related to access, retention, and graduation rates, as well as the application of an online questionnaire to students admitted through the quota system. Data were interpreted using Discursive Textual Analysis (DTA) (MORAES; GALIAZZI, 2016), in dialogue with the Policy Cycle Approach (BOWE; BALL; GOLD, 1992; BALL, 1994) and Policy Enactment Theory (BALL; MAGUIRE; BRAUN, 2016), enabling an understanding of how educational policies are interpreted, translated, and enacted within the institutional context. The findings indicate that affirmative action policies have significantly contributed to expanding access to public higher education for historically excluded groups, promoting changes in the socioeconomic and racial profile of the student body. However, the study demonstrates that the democratization of higher education is not automatically achieved through expanded access, as inequalities related to the material, pedagogical, and symbolic conditions of student retention persist. The academic trajectories of quota students are marked by structural challenges that result in unstable retention, conditional success, and socially produced dropout processes. It is concluded that, although affirmative action policies represent an important advancement in the democratization of Brazilian higher education, their effectiveness depends on the articulation between access policies and institutional retention policies capable of sustaining students’ academic trajectories through to degree completion.