Permanence Strategies in High Selective Undergraduate Courses and Professional Expectations: The Case of Quota System Beneficiaries in Brazilian Public Universities

The aim of this paper is to present the results of a research about the strategies of permanence and professional expectations from high selective undergraduate students who entered through quota system in Brazilian public universities. Quota system, which is an affirmative action and a demand from minorities, was implemented in public universities in 2003 in Brazil and became compulsory for federal universities in 2012 with the approval of a law. This affirmative action has been a strategy for people in disadvantage as well as a way of breaking the social reproduction cycle. It has benefited blacks, indigenous, disabled and public schools students to have access, not only in prestigious universities, but also in very competitive courses. With the quota system, access problems for these groups have been partially resolved although merit and gift ideology are still the main legitimated filters in universities. In highly competitive courses and universities, students are classified and declassified according to the structure and the volume of cultural and informational capitals and because of their social and racial background.  The outcomes of the research show that the students developed a sense of the game creating material and symbolic permanence strategies in order to increase their chances to become successful in the academic field and to be recognized as legitimated students among a very selective group of students. Their professional expectations are ambiguous and based on the material existence in the university. Time is a very important capital for these beneficiaries as they urge to be engaged in work as soon as they graduate.