Trajectories and inequalities

Affirmative action beneficiaries in the medical course at UFSC

Abstract

Based on research conducted with students benefiting from the Affirmative Action Program (PAA) in the Medicine course at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Trindade campus, significant differences were identified in students’ trajectories and social backgrounds, confirming the presence of a horizontal stratification process in higher education. This article deepens the discussion by analyzing the relationships and interactions among quota students, non-quota students, and professors, drawing on narratives collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings highlight the difficulties and tensions experienced by quota students in Medicine throughout their university journey, marked by contact with social repertoires distinct from those of their primary socialization—particularly in a field historically associated with privileged socioeconomic profiles. The results indicate that tensions in everyday interactions still persist. However, changes are also observed as the Affirmative Action Program becomes consolidated as a central public policy for the democratization of higher education. The analysis is grounded in Bourdieu’s categories of habitus and capital, incorporating Bernard Lahire’s reinterpretation of socialization processes.