Resumo:
This work proposes to approach the quota students' understanding of the vacancy reservation system in a public university in the south of Minas Gerais, after the approval of Law 12. 711 of 2012 (Quota Law). Research is currently gaining relevance due to the implementation of a public policy that allows access to certain groups that have been away from the public university for many years. The objectives are: to identify how quota students understand the system for reserving places (quotas) at a public university in the south of Minas, describe the contributions and impasses of the quota policy in the view of quota students and investigate the conditions of access and permanence of students who entered the researched university through quotas. The guiding question is: what is the understanding of quota students about the reservation system (quotas) at a university in the south of Minas Gerais? In this study, research with a qualitative approach was chosen, which is characterized by being concerned with aspects of reality that cannot be quantified. As a data collection instrument, questionnaires were sent from Google Forms to quota students who entered the year 2016 from both university campuses and who were with active enrollment. The year 2016 was chosen because it was the first year in which the researched institution, in compliance with the provisions of the Quota Law, reserved 50% of the total vacancies for admission by quota. The research sample consists of 90 responses. Data analysis was performed based on the content analysis (CA) technique. With this methodological proposal it was possible to know the meanings of the phenomena that permeate the origin of the quota policy, as well as to know the students' understanding of the policy. The students' responses showed that access to university means diverse opportunities, access to knowledge, profession and achievement. It was found that quota students face barriers to stay at the university, such as: financial issues, psychological pressure, anxiety generated as a result of the disciplines, pedagogical difficulties, among others. Considering the difficulties experienced by this public and the opportunity of access to higher education as a means to have a greater development and improvement in the quality of life of the popular classes, it is understood that it is up to the university to turn its eyes on removing impasses and build affirmative policies to deal with the diversity related to class, race, gender, disability, among other issues brought by the new public in higher education.
