1 Introduction

The beginning of the Student Assistance Policies (PAEs) in Brazilian public universities remotes to the creation of the first Higher Education institutions in the country. Among the goals of Student Assistance, one can mention the democratization of the access and the permanence and conclusion of the courses by Higher Education students since the most socioeconomically vulnerable and/or historically marginalized have fewer conditions of remaining enrolled and, therefore, finish the course (^{KOWALSKI, 2012}; ^{NASCIMENTO; BEGGIATO, 2020}).

In this sense, according to ^{Kowalski (2012}), it was after the creation of the National Forum of Pro-Rectors for Community and Student Affairs (Fonaprace), in 1987, that universities advanced the development of policies that contemplate the main addressed conditions and demands related to student permanence in these establishments, such as services related to food, transportation, health, housing, among others.

Consequently, in the 2000s, the debate concerning the elaboration of student assistance programs in public Higher Education in Brazil has become consistent, strengthened mainly by the creation of the Program and Support for Restructuring and Expansion Plans of Federal Universities (Reuni), established by Decree No. 6. 096, of 2007, and by the launching of the National Plan for Student Assistance (Pnaes), instituted by Decree No. 7.234, of 2010, whose goals consists of guiding federal institutions to define assistance programs for socioeconomically vulnerable students (^{KOWALSKI, 2012}).

Such movement of support of student permanence, as pointed by ^{Paiva (2015}), includes the National Education Plan 2014-2024, responsible for establishing the directions for a democratic Higher Education that would meet the growing demands of guaranteeing students’ access and permanence in the Brazilian scenario.

National research published by Fonaprace in 2019, in partnership with the National Association of Directors of Federal Institutions of Higher Education (Andifes), helped to determine that the main reason given by the beneficiary students about the idea of withdrawing a course before receiving support from Student Assistance was financial difficulties, accounting for 27.40% of the investigated public. Furthermore, in comparison with those who are not covered by the assistance, the beneficiaries withdraw their courses less when the reasons are related to dissatisfaction with the course or the lack of conciliation with work (^{SILVA, 2021}).

In relation to the teacher training courses, such as the degree in Physical Education, the focus of this article, the extensive work hours to complement the family income, in the case of vulnerable students, along with the lack of future perspectives and social disgrace of the teachers career engender the reasons for the non-permanence of students in the initial training courses, materializing, thus, the discourse that it is not possible to reconcile studies with labor activities (^{ASSIS et al., 2013}; ^{FERREIRA; BARROS, 2018}).

Therefore, during their training process, those students, part of a context marked by the accentuated social inequality in Higher Education, live with a double obstacle: just as their conditions of permanence in the course are limited due to socioeconomic vulnerability, the type of course to which they are linked and that will make them future teachers, thus, the undergraduate course, imposes challenges that alert and worry the students even during their graduation.

In this sense, this research, funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), considered as central issues the following questions: what do the theses and dissertations defended in Graduation Programs in Physical Education, Education, and Social Work, in the Brazilian context, reveal about the PAEs in the process of Physical Education¹ teachers training? What is the regional insertion of the researchers/research groups that study the theme? What do the course conclusion papers in the stricto sensu modality reveal about the processes of evasion and/or permanence of PAEs students, Physical Education undergraduate students?

Such questions are especially when considering the processes of Physical Education teachers' training. Similar to other degrees, according to ^{Andrade and Lopes (2017}), the action of the PAEs in these courses should develop actions and services of educational and dialogical nature in order to complement the students' training process and promote the future professional insertion of these subjects.

In the meantime, this research aimed to analyze the state of knowledge of the Brazilian PAEs during the process of physical education teacher training from the perspective of the production in stricto sensu Graduate Programs.

2 Methodology

This investigation is of the state of knowledge type and, according to ^{Romanowski and Ens (2006}), it is characterized by addressing only one sector of the publications concerning the studied theme, such as theses and dissertations.

In this perspective, through research in the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), we selected theses and dissertations in Portuguese, defended in stricto sensu Graduate Programs in Brazil linked to the areas of Education, Physical Education, and Social Work, published in the period from 2011 to 2021.

In the advanced searches, we used the following descriptors: “Policy”, “Student Assistance”, “Physical Education”, “Teacher Training”, and “Student Permanence”. These descriptors were crossed using the Boolean operator “AND”: “Policy” AND “Student Assistance” AND “Teacher Training”; “Student Assistance” AND “Physical Education”; “Policy” AND “Student Assistance”; and “Policy” AND “Student Permanence”.

It is noteworthy that the established time cut (2011-2021) for data collection includes the productions in the area from the last decade, a period in which there was a further development of Social Policies - especially from the expansion of public universities - plus its dismantling through the labor reform, materialized in Law No. 13,467 of July 13, 2017. The choice of BDTD was due to the fact that it provides, through open access, all the theses and dissertations defended in the country, an aspect that is in line with the possibilities of mapping the theme.

Through the fluctuating reading of the abstracts, the studies that met the goals of the investigations were fully read, thus, those who focused on PAEs on the teacher’s training in the Physical Education area. Then, they were problematized in the light of the main categories present in historical-dialectical materialism (HDM), namely: the totality, contradiction, and mediation (^{PAULO NETTO, 2011}; ^{SILVA, 2019}). It is worth pointing out that such categories are not fixed, given that every investigated object reveals its specificities. According to Paulo Netto (2011, p. 53), “[...] the method implies, therefore, [...], a certain position (perspective) of the subject that research: that in which the researcher puts himself to, in his relationship with the object, extract from it its multiple determinations”.

Below, Table 1 outlines the initially selected papers.

From the advanced searches in the BDTD, 318 papers were found. From this total, we selected 16 theses and dissertations among which, however, there were four duplications. Therefore, 12 studies were analyzed, five dissertations and seven theses, once they matched the criteria of the research. Other two works, initially, did not belong to the Graduate Programs required as one of the inclusion criteria in this study (Education, Physical Education, and Social Work), were included since they met the goals of the research: a dissertation defended in the area of Public Policy Management, at Federal University of Tocantins (^{MAURICIO, 2019}) and another in the Public Management at Federal University of Pernambuco (^{PENHA, 2015}).

Among the seven selected theses, six are linked to the Education area and one to the Social Work area:

On the other hand, the five selected dissertations were defended on the following universities of the country, all of which are in the Education area:

Below, Table 2 shows, in the chronological order of defense, the selected theses and dissertations that subsidized this research’s grounds and data analysis.

3 PAEs and the school evasion phenomenon

Initially, it is important to illustrate the regional insertion of the selected research in order to identify in which Brazilian regions the theses and dissertations that were part of the scope of this research were defended, as well as in which universities in the country, presented below in Graph 1.

Source: Authors (2022).

Graph 1 Regional insertion of the theses and dissertations 

According to the data, although the Southeast region had the higher concentration of investigations, this research confirms an important aspect: the expansion of the stricto sensu Graduate courses in different regions of Brazil, aspect that contributes to the production of knowledge about the theme in question that contemplates the heterogeneity of the national territory. However, one cannot lose sight of the fact that there is a distortion in relation to the areas that research the PAEs in Higher Education.

Regarding the productions that deal with the PAEs in the process of Physical Education teachers' training - one of the selection criteria - it became evident that no thesis and/or dissertation was defended in the stricto sensu Graduate Programs. Such dimension, according to ^{Francisco (2013}), is a reflection of the identity contours of the area, materialized in the research lines of the Programs. Besides, those that contemplate lines connected to the historical-social and didactic-pedagogical dimensions in Physical Education are also scarce.

Physical Education, even in its early days, conceived in a dichotomized way the epistemological conception of this area of knowledge by incorporating concepts from more scientifically recognized areas, such as medical and military, which led to the dominance of positivist science (bachelor's degree) to the detriment of discussions of humanistic, philosophical, and pedagogical bias (undergraduate). In this context, social inequalities began to be justified exclusively by the biological perspective of the human being, without considering the historical and social determinants that permeate society (^{FRANCISCO, 2013}; ^{TAFFAREL; SANTANA; LUZ, 2021}).

Therefore, the devaluation of physical education teacher training courses has a historical root, because, throughout its history, the concepts linked to positivism are highlighted, based on eugenic precepts, the hygienic conception, body control, and the dichotomization of the individual, in line with the interests of the capitalist production system (^{SOARES, 2021}; ^{TAFFAREL; SANTANA; LUZ, 2021}).

However, though facing the lack of papers that problematize, specifically, the link between the PAEs and Physical Education undergraduate students, it is possible to establish a close relationship between the PAEs and the dropout phenomenon in the context of Higher Education.

Among the reasons that made the initial teacher training students evade Higher Education, the main one is the insertion in the labor market to supplement the family income, motivated by the socioeconomic conditions of these students' families (^{BETZEK, 2015}; ^{CASTRO, 2013}; ^{KUSSUDA, 2017}; ^{PINTO, 2015}; ^{SILVEIRA, 2017}).

Added to the lack of conciliation between work and academic life, there are other aspects that motivate the evasion, such as the little time to dedicate to studies and the PAE's inadequacy in serving students from economically disadvantaged classes, factors that cause situations of frustration and psychological problems (^{CASTRO, 2013}; ^{CARVALHO, 2016}), as well as the disinterest and discouragement to the teaching profession, as observed by ^{Kussuda (2017}) in his doctoral dissertation.

As a result, ^{Penha (2015}), in the sampling of her doctoral dissertation, concluded that the undergraduate courses are those that cover the largest number of beneficiaries of the PAE, because 70% of these students had family income below one minimum wage. Corroborating the above, ^{Betzek (2015}), when analyzing the origin of the beneficiaries of PNAES at the Federal Technological University of Paraná, Medianeira campus, found that 90% of the students of the undergraduate courses attended by the PAE come from public schools. Student Assistance, therefore, assumes an essential role in supporting the permanence and the conclusion of the course for socioeconomically vulnerable students. Similarly, ^{Mauricio (2019}) confirms that the courses with the lowest evasion percentage are those that include the largest number of requests from students in conditions of social and economic vulnerability.

This scenario, as clarified by ^{Marx (2017}), Puello-Socarrás (2021), and ^{Tonelo (2021}), derives from the material conditions of existence of human life dependent on the global process of capitalist production. In this context, social inequality is a central and vital element for the perpetuation of the capitalist structure, once it seeks, through the conservation of an almost estate system, to strengthen its relations of power and domination in an attempt to circumvent the crises of capital that arise over time.

In this view, Social Policies, after all, are diluted in the capitalist system of production - such as the PAEs -, although they are understood as a support mechanism for the reduction of social inequality. Regarding its implementation, ^{Chaves and Gehlen (2019}) emphasize that its goal is to mitigate the negative effects arising from capitalism itself, directly affecting the guarantee of social rights, such as education, a view corroborated by ^{Carvalho (2016}), ^{Gimenes (2016}), and ^{Pinto (2015}). In other words, it is a process that presents a constant movement: the capitalist production system seeks profitability at all costs, while promoting mechanisms, among them Social Policies, in order to mask the exploitation inherent to its structure. However, these policies are frequently insufficient and, therefore, do not contemplate all those who need them.

Another relevant discussion to be discussed on the works concerns the effectiveness of Student Assistance on the reduction of school evasion in the scope focused by PAE, mostly the financial and material aspects as the main mechanisms to maintain the permanence of students who benefit from it, consolidating it as the basis of Student Assistance in universities. Among those services, it is worth highlighting the offer of academic scholarships, the provision of food aid, transportation aid and housing aid, and payment for the expenses of academic services, such as photocopying (^{BETZEK, 2015}; ^{CARVALHO, 2016}; ^{MAURICIO, 2019}; ^{PENHA, 2015}; ^{SILVEIRA, 2017}).

On the other hand, ^{Gonçalves (2019}) discuss the association of vulnerability beyond the economic aspect, especially because, according to the author, there are social and cultural elements that historically deny and/or hinder the presence of working-class students in Higher Education. Distancing herself from the exclusive offer of material services in the PAE, the author defends symbolic conditions that favor the permanence of students in different degrees, such as dialogues between professors and students; investment in the continued formation of professors, focusing on didactic-pedagogical aspects; a greater integration of students into academic life; and the incentive for universities to value the teaching profession.

^{Mauricio (2019}, p. 90) corroborates this argument and proceeds to conduct a rigorous analysis about this dimension in the context of the Federal University of Tocantins:

It is necessary to highlight that, besides the socio-economic vulnerability, many factors can affect academic performance, such as, for example, academic, personal, institutional factors; for this reason, the PNAES also recommends psycho-pedagogical support. Furthermore, it is important to highlight the peculiarities of each course, the differences between courses in the exact and human areas, the course shift, among others.

In other words, the phenomenon in question demands analysis and investigation based on the synthesis of the multiple determinations that compose it.

4 Closing remarks

Data collected in this investigation with the goal to analyze, on a national level, the state of knowledge of the PAE in the process of physical education teachers' training from the production in stricto sensu Graduate Programs, highlight the need to promote other studies on the subject - especially of an empirical nature - since no theses and/or dissertations were found in the area of Physical Education, nor a production that covered the relationship of the PAE in the process of students' training in this area of knowledge.

The results indicated the relevance of creating monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of the PAE for the maintenance of the assistance benefits offered, since the capitalist system remodels itself from time to time and inequality intensifies and increasingly reaches a larger number of people. In this regard, ^{Marx (2017}, p. 881) reinforces that capitalism: “[...] is both a process of production of the material conditions of existence of human life, and a process which, operating specific historical-economic conditions of productions, produces and reproduces these same relations of production”.

The literature reveals that policies must be formulated considering the totality of the dimensions that involve student permanence, especially with the prerogative of involving all characters in its creation, such as the students, the community, and the institution's management network, not restricting the creation to a select group of people.

Through the analysis of the papers, Student Assistance is also highlighted as a mechanism that guarantees not only the permanence of less privileged students in universities but also - in the case of teacher training courses, such as the degree in Physical Education - as an elementary factor in the valorization of the teaching profession, especially because the degree has been historically marginalized.

Therefore, analyzing the discussions about the PAE in initial teacher training becomes relevant when raising discussions related to overcoming social inequality, the struggle for the democratization of education, and the insertion of the less wealthy classes in public universities, as well as the relations that several aspects, especially the historical and social ones, have on the search for student equity in Higher Education.