O ACESSO DE MULHERES NEGRAS À EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR PÚBLICA: INTERSECCIONALIDADE, LUTAS E POLÍTICAS EM DISPUTA (2012 - 2022)

Abstract

This research is linked to the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), in the research line 'History, Politics, Education'. More specifically, it is associated with the project 'Inclusion, access, and permanence in higher education: policies and trajectories. In this investigation, we identify as our object the public higher education access policies for Black women, given that the access of Black female students to higher education carries social markers that may influence how they reach this educational level. This thesis aims to analyze the relationship between educational policies and the access of Black women to higher education during the period from 2012 to 2022. Its specific objectives are: to identify educational policies that may affect the access of Black women to higher education; to uncover the socio-historical conditions surrounding the access of Black women to higher education in Brazil; and to highlight the specificities of Black women’s access to higher education, considering new entrants, graduates, and the areas of the courses chosen. These socio-historical conditions are identified in this thesis through intersectional analytical categories such as race, gender, and class, as we understand that these interconnected factors create barriers in the social conditions to which Black women are subjected. Consequently, these inequalities are reproduced, hindering the overcoming of such vulnerabilities, which directly impact their educational process. Thus, throughout this investigation, we mobilize concepts that refer both to universal aspects and to the specificities of the research object. The methodology was developed through exploratory research, using bibliographic and documentary data collection, based on the historical-dialectical materialist method. The results indicated that higher education policies implemented in recent decades—particularly the quota policy—have contributed to the access of Black women to this educational level. However, this access still occurs unequally when compared to that of white women, especially regarding entry into areas considered elitist. The research also revealed that the likelihood of a Black woman completing higher education is lower than that of white women, revealing an urgent demand for strategies and investments that support not only access but also permanence, with planning that goes beyond financial resources, materializing in actions of inclusion and curricular changes that truly promote the integration of these students into the academic environment.