As cotas na Medicina: perfil, desempenho e percepções

Abstract

This study deals with the policy of quotas in Brazilian universities, and examined the case of the Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro and especially the medical school of the university. The choice of the institution was due to the fact that it is the university that given the responsibility of inaugurating the policy, being under the criticism and controversy from the very beginning. The course was chosen because of its high social prestige, historically populated by elites and an entry with a high difficulty degree. The interest in discovering how this policy is seen in a course of this nature was the driving motor of this research. It is intended to find out who are the students beneficiaries of this program, noting their socioeconomic and cultural characteristics. I seek also understand how the relationship of these students are given, with themselves, among other students, teachers and university life. The methodology of research work came from document analysis and field research. The minutes of supreme council (CONSUN) of the Uerj were analyzed, national and state laws and the statistical database of Uerj, the DataUerj. A questionnaire was administered in students groups of Medicine and also interviews were conducted with quota students and not quota students, on what concerns the perceptions of these actors on the analyzed policy. The theoretical framework discusses concepts of credentialism, meritocracy and subordinates spaces. Data analysis showed that quota students have similar academic performance to not quota students, despite lower socioeconomic characteristics. It was also possible to conclude that the perceptions of students, with quota or not, is still full of concepts that underlie the theoretical concepts discussed here.