Resumo

MENIN, Maria Suzana de Stefano et al. Representações de estudantes universitários sobre alunos cotistas: confronto de valores. Educ. Pesqui. [online]. 2008, vol.34, n.02, pp.255-272. ISSN 1517-9702.

The introduction of a policy of quotas in Brazilian universities is recent and, despite being supported by various institutes of education, this kind of policy has faced opposition. The present study has as its objective to investigate what are the values more frequently present in the evaluations university students make of quotas users. Different types of questionnaires were applied to 403 students of a public university of the State of São Paulo, with the purpose of identifying if their representations about this issue varied according to the entry channel to the university, namely, simple exam, preparatory courses for disadvantaged students, and quotas, and according to the target public in question: black students or students from public schools. As a method of analysis, the study made use of the ALCESTE program and, as a complementary resource, content analysis. The results show the rejection to quota policies, since they are perceived as more threatening than policies related to entrance exams and free prep courses. In most of the answers given by the students, a conflict of values becomes clear: merit versus compensatory equality. The entrance exam, solely based on merit, is represented as the fairest system for pupils from public schools, and particularly for black students, to enter the university. Values such as justice, equality and self-effort, upon which most university students base their answers against quotas, are being questioned by affirmative action policies, indicating that reckoning with them is the biggest challenge these policies have to face.

Palavras-chave : Affirmative Policies; University Quotas; Values; Compensatory Equality .

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