CHALLENGES OF UNIVERSITY STUDENT PERMANENCE: A STUDY ABOUT THE TRAJECTORY OF STUDENTS ASSISTED BY STUDENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

Abstract

This article discusses student permanence in Brazilian public higher education based on a
study conducted at the Federal University of São Paulo. In the study, we sought to understand how a
group of college students assisted by student assistance programs build their academic trajectory,
considering their asymmetric socioeconomic background. This article analyzes part of the data from the
in-depth interviews carried out in this research. It can be observed that the trajectory of students coming from social classes different from those that traditionally occupied the public university coexists with
contradictions that make their permanence in the university a constant challenge. Elements of the
material world, linked to financial subsistence, and symbolic, linked to the perception of belonging,
indicate that the passage through the public university does not guarantee, in itself, changes in the way
these students are perceived from the social "place", although these perceptions do not prevent students
from overcoming the symbolic barriers of discrimination and exclusion and seeking ways to equalize the
standard condition of the university student.