“Nós somos os primeiros” : trajetórias educativas de estudantes indígenas na pós-graduação stricto sensu

Abstract

This thesis aims to reflect on the educational trajectories of indigenous students enrolled in master's and doctorate programs at public Brazilian universities, discussing the transformations that have occurred in the university field and in the formation of these agents over the past years. The study presents the trajectory of ten indigenous master's and doctorate students from different institutions and graduate programs, analyzing how the social origin, family configurations and the capital embodied in the socialization process influence the process of schooling and insertion in the university and graduate fields. The concept of trajectories appropriated in this work aims to situate the biographical events beyond the account of an individual and his particular vision about the events and facts of his life, taking into account the social configurations of origin, the movements of other individuals, groups, institutions and policies that constitute the social space where he acts, at the same time that the action of the environment causes dislocations in his trajectory. Thus, understanding the trajectories of indigenous students in master's and doctorate programs at Brazilian universities requires an analysis of the constitution of the university field and the post-graduate in its historical, cultural and political aspects and the insertion of these agents in higher education in recent years. The thesis defended points to the preponderance of public policies, especially the policy of affirmative action, in the composition of the trajectories of the agents researched and in the opening of the university field to the social and cultural diversity existing in the country, especially to indigenous communities. The study shows that, despite the advances made in recent years, the university structure, and especially the stricto sensu post-graduation in Brazil, still remains highly refractory to the social and cultural diversity of its audience.