STUDENT TRAJECTORIES AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY: BETWEEN FAMILY PROJECT-PATHS, BELONGING AND INDIVIDUATION

ENTRE TRAJETOS-PROJETOS FAMILIARES E INDIVIDUAÇÃO

Abstract

This article is situated at the interface between studies on the composition of the university student public and the practices within its segments. We seek to understand the diversity of challenges that the university experience poses for a group deemed to be privileged. In the context of expanding access opportunities for lower income classes in higher education, the subject of elite schooling sheds light on the dynamics that structure university trajectories. We analyze the trajectories of students from a public university in the South of the country, considering family income, cultural capital, and perceptions of family paths-projects, training, and university life. We characterize socioeconomic conditions and ways of appropriating family heritage, with ruptures and adjustments in processes of individuation. We applied a questionnaire to undergraduate students in different programs, we obtained 1,463 valid responses and classified respondents into three groups. We conducted in-depth interviews with 10 out of 202 students from high-income families. The analysis addressed how these students express family and individual mobilization through family paths-projects and individuation processes. The data indicate a tendency among individuals to perceive, take position, and act in a manner convergent with the circumstances of relative social and educational privilege when compared to other segments. The interviewed students value schooling and pursuing a degree at a public university in a naturalized family path-project. On the other hand, they present elements of discomfort concerning family values and prescriptions, leveraging experiences in the university environment, a heterogeneous public space, to construct unique trajectories and achieve individuation.