Significance of the University: Trajectories of Scholarship Students in in Private Higher Education
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Revista Internacional Educon | ISSN 2675-672
Volume 2, n. 1, 10.47764/e21021006, jan./abr. 2021
https://doi.org/10.47764/e21021006
Significance of the University: Trajectories of
Scholarship Students in in Private Higher
Education
Los Sentidos de la Universidad: Trayectoria de los Estudiantes Becarios
en la Enseñanza Superior Privada
Os Sentidos da Universidade: Trajetórias de Estudantes Bolsistas no
Ensino Superior Privado
KARINA SALES VIEIRA1, ANA MARIA FREITAS TEIXEIRA2
1 Universidade
Federal de Sergipe (UFS)
2 Universidade
Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia/ Centro de Cultura, Linguagens e Tecnologias Aplicadas
(UFRB/CECULT)
ABSTRACT: This article presents some of the results of a research that sought to understand the school
trajectory and the motives for university entry of scholarship students from a private institution of higher
education. The field of research was the AGES University Center (UniAGES) located in the state of
Bahia. The subjects of the research were 6 undergraduate students, two scholarship holders from each
program: Fies, ProUni and ProVIDA. In order to achieve this purpose, the theory of the Relationship with
Knowledge of Bernard Charlot (2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009) was used as reference. The data collection
was carried out from semi-structured interviews. It is concluded that there is an appreciation of Higher
Education as the key to the future and the promise of a better life. These are trajectories of students of
popular origin who have had a basic public education and seek a possibility to change their lives.
RELATIONSHIP WITH KNOWLEDGE. PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION.
HIGH SCHOOL. SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS.
RESUMEN: En este artículo se presentan algunos de los resultados de una investigación que buscaba
comprender la trayectoria escolar y los motivos de ingreso a la universidad de los estudiantes becados de una
institución privada de educación superior. El campo de investigación fue el Centro Universitario AGES
(UniAGES) ubicado en el estado de Bahía. Los sujetos de la investigación fueron 6 estudiantes
universitarios, dos becarios de cada programa: Fies, ProUni y ProVIDA. Para lograr este propósito, se
utilizó como referencia la teoría de la relación con el conocimiento de Bernard Charlot (2000, 2001, 2005,
2006, 2009). La recopilación de datos se realizó a partir de entrevistas semiestructuradas. Se concluye que
existe una apreciación de la Educación Superior como la clave del futuro y la promesa de una vida mejor.
Se trata de trayectorias de estudiantes de origen popular que han tenido una educación pública básica y
buscan una posibilidad de cambiar sus vidas
RELACIÓN CON EL SABER. EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR PRIVADA. ESCUELA
SECUNDARIA. ESTUDIANTES BECADOS.
The authors grant the Revista Internacional Educon the rights of first publication of this article. The terms of a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) are applied, which allows unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium
provided the original publication is correctly cited.2
RESUMO: Este artigo apresenta alguns dos resultados de uma pesquisa que procurou compreender
identificar a trajetória escolar e os móbeis para o ingresso na universidade de estudantes bolsistas
universitários de uma instituição privada de educação superior. O campo da pesquisa foi o Centro
Universitário AGES (UniAGES) localizado no estado da Bahia. Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram 6
estudantes bolsistas de licenciatura, dois bolsistas de cada programa: Fies, ProUni e ProVIDA. A fim de
alcançar este propósito foi utilizado como referencial a teoria da Relação com o Saber de Bernard Charlot
(2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009). A coleta de dados foi realizada a partir de entrevistas
semiestruturadas. Conclui-se que há uma valorização do Ensino Superior como a chave para o futuro e
promessa de uma vida melhor. São trajetórias de estudantes de origem popular que tiveram uma educação
básica pública e buscam uma possibilidade de mudar de vida.
RELAÇÃO COM O SABER 1. ENSINO SUPERIOR PRIVADO 2. ENSINO
MÉDIO 3. ESTUDANTES BOLSISTAS
Introduction
This article presents some results of the research that has the purpose of understanding and
identifying the school trajectory and the motives for the enrollment of university scholarship students at
a private institution of higher education located in the interior of the state of Bahia. Within this
perspective, the study reflects part of the investigation carried out in the master’s in Education, by the
Universidade Federal de Sergipe “University students in a private institution and their relationship with
academic knowledge: from spectators to protagonists”. For performing the investigation, the
heterogeneity of the university students of the private higher education institution was considered,
generated by the expansion of the offer of vacancies due to student grant programs such as Fundo de
Financiamento Estudantil (Fies), Programa Universidade para Todos (ProUni) and Programa de Acolhimento
(ProVIDA), as well as the perception that these young students attribute to the admission. The research
is of a qualitative approach, with phenomenological inspiration, adopting Bernard Charlot’s Relationship
with Knowledge (2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2009) as reference, permitting, moreover, to analyze,
understand and consider the specificities of this relationship in elementary education and in higher
education, observing the different aspects involved in the educational experiences.
The field of research adopted was the Centro Universitário AGES (UniAGES) located in a small
sized municipality in the state of Bahia. For this article a cut-out from the original sample1 was used and
6 scholarship undergraduate students were selected: two from each of the referred programs, being one
from the first and another from the second period. The students making up the researched population
were young, predominantly of the female gender, from low-income families and who, once being the first
in their families to enter a University, surpassed the schooling rates of their parents.
Data collection was carried out through previously scheduled semi-structured interviews. The
interviews occurred within the Institution (UniAGES) itself, in rooms with quiet and comfortable
environments, without any external interference. Before beginning the interviews, we thanked the parties
involved for their participation, explaining the importance of their depositions and the nature of the work
developed. At this point the identity confidentiality of the research subject was also clarified, as well as
informing that the fictitious names were used to identify the students. Once the clarifications are provided
and the participation reiterated, the Free Informed Consent Form was signed, evidencing, also,
authorization for the registering the audio.
The researched students presented the following general profile:
1
This sample comprised 170 students of the first and second period, of an undergraduate course, all of which held
scholarships from one of the referred Programs, and who took part in the first data-collection phases, responding
to a questionnaire and to the Balance of Knowledge.Karina Sales Vieira, Ana Maria Freitas Teixeira 3
● Fernanda, Physical Education student, Evening Classes, 1st period, Fies scholarship. Works
parttime (morning). Father and Mother: Incomplete Elementary Education;
● Jamily, Mathematics student, Evening Classes, 2nd period, Fies scholarship. Works parttime
(afternoon). Father: Elementary Education. Mother: High School;
● Ricardo, Physics student, Evening Classes, 1st period, ProUni scholarship. Working mornings
and afternoons. Father: Incomplete Elementary Education and Mother: nursing technician;
● Bernardo, Physical Education student. Alternative Classes, 2nd period, ProUni scholarship.
Does not work. Father and Mother: Incomplete Elementary Education;
● Daiany, Biology student, Alternative Classes, 1st period, ProVIDA scholarship. Does not work
(looks after grandmother). Father and Mother: Incomplete Elementary Education.
● Mariana, Pedagogy student, Evening Classes, 2nd period, ProVIDA scholarship. Does not work.
Father and Mother: Incomplete Elementary Education.
Stemming from this initial information and in order to better systemize the presentation of the
results, the first section of this article addresses the theory of the Relationship with Knowledge in Higher
Education. The second section is dedicated to data analysis produced from the semi-structured
interviews. This section addresses the schooling trajectory focused, mainly, on the Elementary Education
experience, emphasizing aspects identified as those mostly contributing towards access to Higher
Education, plans prepared for entrance to the university, highlighting the relationship of the students
with academic knowledge, analyzing the perception attributed by the students in relation to achieving a
higher education, without overlooking the aspects involved in the choice of the course.
1 The Relationship with Knowledge in Higher Education
For Charlot (2006), the students reach the university already as bearers of a relationship with
knowledge, with the studies constructed throughout their background, predominantly, their schooling,
since they were already students of an elementary education before entering a university. Considering
this, apart from the Charlot (2006) research, we also based our research on the Neves (2012, 2015),
Bicalho (2004) and Coulon (2008) researches, all performed with higher education students.
To perform a research on higher education nested with the Relationship with Knowledge theory,
is, above all, to recognize that, indeed, the relationships established at the university are very different to
those held before entering this universe (Charlot, 2013). The university area requires from the student a
new form of viewing the world, reading it, understanding it, and for this reason, entering this space is a
new moment in the educational trajectory, which sometimes causes awkwardness, marking the need for
learning an equally new craft, that of a university student. To learn this craft means to become a member
of the university, both institutionally as well as intellectually (Coulon, 2008). For this reason, Charlot apud
Coulon (2008) says that becoming a member of the university is a condition for establishing the
relationship between the subjects and knowledge. Accordingly, “learning the craft of a university student
allows and supposedly become and feel a true university student, one who has access to universes outside
the trivial world, shared with other 'members'” (Charlot apud Coulon, 2008, p. 13)
Entering higher education is diving into a totally new universe, different to anything experienced
outside it. It means allowing oneself to be immersed in its rules, in its languages, in its codes. It means
developing autonomy, critical and scientific-thinking, spirit of research, express opinions, be an
investigator, participative, but overall, permit the university to get inside you. Hence, entering into the
university life demands a passage from pupil to learner (Coulon, 2008). University knowledge of these
students, according to Neves (2012), is nothing more than a broadening of the knowledge obtained
during life, not constituting, accordingly, any specificity.4
According to Neves (2015), the university is sought for three reasons: firstly, the possibility of
professional qualification, which means that most of the learning process is related to the future
professional practice; secondly, because it permits personal knowledge, because for the research subjects
learning professional and scientific contents seems to be a process which implies in changes in the way
they see themselves, see others and the world, through various forms of subjectivity, pertaining to the
cognitive and linguistics; and, finally, the university is sought, and valued, for the intellectual formation,
when there is a mobilization with regards to knowledge taken as intellectual content, from where it is
possible to understand the world and its relations.
Along this line, entering a university implies in entering a profoundly linguistic world, where
language is highly codified and standardized, once it is only though this language that knowledge can
attain a scientific character, whereby being “scientific” is above all not “saying whatever” (Charlot, 2006),
in other words, it is talking supported by theoretical benchmarks, based on research and studies, and
expressing not only the language and common understanding, but based on scientific knowledge. It is
for this reason that entering a university is building a new identity and preparing a new relationship with
knowledge (Coulon, 2008).
Once within this new space, students are invited to transition from the status of high school
student to that of a university student (Coulon, 2008). Crossing over is recognizing that in this space it is
necessary to develop a new student habitus, it is necessary to understand the logic and the rules of the
institution in order to become a member, ultimately, it is important to develop a new relationship with
knowledge. The students must learn to decipher standards and codes with which they are faced, such as
the bureaucratic procedures of enrollment up until the preparation of the papers. “The university has a
different logic to high school: ‘it is not spoon fed’.” (Bicalho, 2004, p. 131).
In high school, bureaucratic issues are simpler. Enrollment is performed by the responsible parties
annually, school work does not require such thoroughness in standards, and for this reason Coulon (2008,
p.35) states that “the crossover to university is accompanied by important changes in the relationships
that the individual maintains with three modalities that are strongly present in all learning: time, space
and rules of knowledge”. Time, because classes at university do not have the same duration as in high
school, the year is not continuous, it is divided into two periods, assessments occur from time to time,
different methods and rhythms. Space, because schools are smaller than universities, and many have
difficulties in getting around without getting lost, many don’t know where the university secretariat is, or
the bathrooms or even the classrooms. Finally, rules of knowledge, these are profoundly changed, due
to the bond established between higher education, knowledge and the future professional activity. For
this reason, in the measure in which these modifications occur, that familiarity with the university is
broadened, it becomes, for some, a place of enjoyment; for others, it is a place of hard, intense, tiring and
painful work (Bicalho, 2004).
Analyses of the interviews performed by Bicalho (2004) regarding the relationship of students with
the university evidenced that there is a certain continuity between the relationship with elementary
education, high school and the relation with the university. This is due to the fact that when the student
develops a significance with knowledge-object in elementary education, this remains present at university.
However, the author emphasizes that despite the university offering new elements for the development
of the relationship of the students with knowledge, there weren’t, in the reported trajectories, any
significant alteration. In the author’s words:
The schooling trajectory prior to university is an element that strongly influences
the relationship with knowledge that the students build at university. It seems that
the relationship with knowledge-object, when not established in the initial schooling
trajectory, does not manifest itself at university, despite the fact that we cannot state
that going through this space and performing the activities demanded therein are
innocuous in this regard. The students that reached pleasure in the knowledge in
prior schooling moments, found the same pleasure in relation to the knowledge-
object of their courses (Bicalho, 2004, p. 178).Karina Sales Vieira, Ana Maria Freitas Teixeira 5
Making sense is what makes the whole difference in the relationship that the subject establishes
with knowledge. Thus, to find pleasure through knowledge in the schooling phases prior to higher
education is important towards finding pleasure at university. Further, the meaning of any relationship
with knowledge is not only in reference to prior schooling experiences, but also to “the background of
the subject, expectations, concepts of life, relationships with others, how the individual envisions
him/herself and the image the individual wishes to offer to others” (Charlot, 2000, p. 72), consequently,
the author mentions that any relationship with knowledge contains a dimension of identity. It is the
individual’s perceptions, experiences, contacts with other subjects, the context of his/her life that makes
the individual attribute meaning, or not, to knowledge, in this case to academic knowledge.
University, for all these reasons, is in fact a new space, where the student is faced with new types
of demands in relation to knowledge. The insertion, therefore, in this new type of relationship coexists
with the practical relationship with knowledge, developed by the individual during professional
experience or based on common sense. A successful outcome, therefore, in establishing academic
relationships with knowledge is associated, on one side, with knowledge relationships established with
the professors and, on the other hand, the relationship built by the student during the prior schooling
trajectory (Bicalho, 2004). Accordingly, despite differences among the relationships established with
knowledge during high school and higher education, the relationships constructed during high school are
cornerstones for those constructed at the university.
2 Trajectories and Meanings of Scholarship University Students in Higher
Education
Considering the overall debate and the analyses prepared on the matter of the relationship with
knowledge of university students, as presented above, we cast our attention to interviews performed with
the students at UniAGES.
The trajectory of 6 students that granted the interviews is marked by a mixture of encroachments
in relation to their entrance to Higher Education. Some, when questioned as to what they consider to have
been fundamental in their Elementary Education in order to reach the University, attribute major importance to the
teachers, others to their parents, others to their own personal deployment and also those that cannot
perceive, or say what was essential. However, both at the university and during school, the figure of the
educator appears with a certain meaning, despite not being unanimous in the responses, but always
remembered.
In this respect, in the statements of Fernanda and Mariana the influence of the school teachers is
notable, especially during high school, for the construction of the possibility and of the interest of
entering into Higher Education. It should be observed, regarding this aspect, that very often the direction
and the pedagogical team of many schools do not seriously assume the role of encouraging and guiding
students towards higher education (Berger, 2010). They say:
Ah, the teacher that I had, who was an example to me? One that I like until today
[...] well, I am very shy and so I could never make any presentations in seminars and
such, I wasn’t able, but today I can, but in High School I couldn’t and everyone
would say “ah, give her the grade without the presentation” and he would encourage
me, saying “one day you will be in a university”, so I really like him (Fernanda,
Physical Education, 1st Period, FIES).
Elementary education….can I mention a teach that I had? I can think of one of the
teachers I had, because there were two. One taught me a lot. I believe that it was
fundamental and always with this in mind, going forward, right? (Mariana,6
Pedagogia, 2º Período, PROVIDA).
Similar to the students above, Ricardo and Bernardo also envision the figure of the educator, in a
general perspective, as being fundamental for their access into Higher Education, however, this appears
in a very superficial manner, in their statements, because according to them, what seemed most important
to them was the family, the father figure, their personal efforts and their interest in studying:
I think so, the support of the teachers was fundamental. Also, their own interest in
studying. Because many people join the school but do not have any interest in
studying, sometimes even entering into a university without much interest, but I
believe it is important to have this interest. I was interest in studying, right? So, to
me everything I learned during school was important towards jointing a university
(Bernardo, Physical Education, 2nd Period, PROUNI).
I think it was mainly due to my own interest, to my life focus, it was not even a
matter of the quality of education, it was my wish. I was also greatly influenced by
my father, when I finished, when I was finishing high school, I focused on wanting
to do the ENEM in order to have access to a university, and my father made it
possible for me to study, and I believe this was a fundamental fact, the help of my
father and my interest in focusing on my studies. Of course, there were teachers
that influence, that one takes as examples for life, that you identify with, but to say
that it was due to my teachers, I don’t think so, I think that it comes from the student
more than from the quality of the education (Ricardo, Physics, 1st Period, PROUNI).
It was observed that in the statements of the students Bernardo and Ricardo the focus was on
their personal interest in studying. Accordingly, their statements point out to the “their own strong
mobilization”. “Talking about mobilizations goes back to commitment, in other words, efforts
undertaken to reach a certain objective” (Teixeira, 2010, p. 57). Bernardo says that all that he learnt during
elementary education was important. Ricardo, on the other hand, considers that the most important was
the help from his father, then his own interest, and lastly the teachings of the teachers in the class room.
This statement ranks education during elementary school, placing it in third plan of reference for entering
into a higher education, which can be related to the quality of the elementary education that Ricardo had
access to and that little contributed towards advancing in his schooling trajectory. In this manner, it is
possible to observe the valorization attributed to the family as support and incentive towards higher
education, as well as its role as an active subject in the schooling process preceding the enrollment in a
university. It is important to highlight that the students who attributed importance to their own
mobilization hold ProUni scholarships. This merits reflection.
According to the research by Lambertucci (2007), ProUni scholarship students make criticisms
that point out to the need for the public elementary and secondary education to receive due attention
from the competent bodies. According to the students of the sample in the research, they long for having
the right to an elementary education of quality that permits them to compete, on equal terms, for the
vacancies in public universities. Other students, nevertheless, report the importance of elementary
education, especially regarding the reading aspect. These studied in private elementary and secondary
schools, such as Jamily:
I believe elementary school was the reading basis I received, because I was a student
here, at Colégio Integrado. I studied up until ninth grade here, then I went to Pierre
Freitas. Here we always had books to read, they were school books, which we then
discussed in class. There were various incentives for reading. This helped me,
especially when I reached the time for the ENEM composition, because I already
had a good reading background (Jamily, Mathematics, 2nd Period, FIES).Karina Sales Vieira, Ana Maria Freitas Teixeira 7
The schools mentioned by the student are private institutions and located, respectfully, in
Paripiranga (BA) and Simão Dias (SE). The focus given to reading and the importance of the ENEM
were observed and, as a result, for enrollment in a University. Higher education was always a project of
the students since elementary education. Some already planned very early, in grade six (previously grade
five) on entering into a University. This aspect recurred in the statements:
And,….around when I was…let’s say, at a very early stage, when I was still in fifth
grade, around such time, I had a math teacher, I won’t mention his name, and it was
then that I liked his way of applying the subject and I identified myself with math,
with numbers, and so on, that is why today I study Physics, right? I think that it is
because I could relate and for me he gave me the kick-start to study calculation
(Ricardo, Física, 1º Período, PROUNI).
Others, such as Fernanda, began to think about entering into Higher Education in the eighth grade
(previous 7th grade), other in 9th grade (previous 8th grade) such as Jamily and Daiany, going against the
result of some researches in which the perspective of facing the vestibular (entrance examination) and
entering into a University appears more clearly during high school (Vianna, 2007 apud Teixeira, 2010).
I only began to think really when I was in eighth grade, year in which I thought: “My
God, I am grown up now, I am at an advanced age and I need something, I need
work, a salary, a job, etc. "[...] but at such time I did not have an specific course in
mind, but I knew what I wanted….I wanted a higher education, I had to have a
higher education (Daiany, Biology, 1st Period, PROVIDA).
In the ninth grade, when I was in high school, I was already thinking about it (about
higher education). JI wanted to do Civil Engineering. I was decided. Then I began
and it didn’t work out, so I had to start again (Jamily, Mathematics, 2nd Period, FIES).
Ever since seventh grade. I always had the dream of getting into university
(Fernanda, Physical Education, 1st Period, FIES).
In the statements, out of a total of 6 interviewed students, 5 thought about higher education when
they were still in Elementary School. Only Bernardo began thinking about the matter when he was in
high school. Among them, 50% did not know which course to take, such as Daiany and Milena, other
had already defined the course they wanted, such as Bernardo and Jamily:
I always imagined it. I think I was in the first year of high school I was already
thinking. I wanted to do Engineering (Bernardo, Physical Education, 2nd Period,
PROUNI).
I wanted to do Civil Engineering. I was decided. Then I went to take the course
and it didn’t work out very well [...] (Jamily, Mathematics, 2nd Period, FIES).
Half (50%) of the interviewed students, despite having a well-defined intention during Elementary
School, about which course to take at University, ended up taking other courses, for sundry reasons,
some due to not finding an available vacancy for the scholarship they were granted, others due to not
having financial conditions:
[...] I landed in Physical Education. I didn’t want Physical Education. I wanted IT.
But the day I went with the scholarship there weren’t any more openings. But I am
enjoying the course. On the day I went to enroll there were no more openings.8
Before going there were, but the day I went there were no more available. So, I
went into Physical Education (Bernardo, Physical Education, 2nd Period, PROUNI).
I wanted to do Civil Engineering. I took two semesters of Civil Engineering at
another University in Salvador. I opted for Mathematics due to financial conditions
(Jamily, Mathematics, 2nd Period, FIES).
Through these statements it is possible to verify that despite not being determining, there is a
relationship between social origin and a prestigious career, as emphasized by Bourdieu and Passeron
(1975). This is because it is not frequent to find among the working-class subjects following prestigious
careers, however this occurrence does not permit us to state that such situation does not exist or cannot
occur. Once students attain their first higher education diploma and venture into the working market,
now in an improved financial condition, they can make the effort to take the course that permits them
to follow a more privileged career.
Driven by desires for changes they seek the university to improve their financial conditions (4), a
change of life (2), find a job (1), help their families (1) and become someone in life (1), which is evidenced
in their statements:
I believe that a change in life. Once I am not rich and no one in my family is rich.
So, I thought, if I go to a University, graduate, I can get a better job, help my family
and help myself too (Bernardo, Physical Education, 2 nd Period, PROUNI)
As I already mentioned, the need is because I live with my grandmother and my
brother, and wanting or not my grandmother is already old and one day she will die,
then it will only be my brother and I. When my grandmother dies what will I live
off if I don’t get a job? My brother will probably lead his ow life, not that he will
abandon me, but I have my needs so I will have to run after it myself (Daiany,
Biologia 1º Period, PROVIDA)
I believe that….well, since the society in which we live, let us say, the rural area, you
get married young and be a housewife, or you remain at home and depend on your
parents, or you leave and go to a university to be someone in life. And I believe that
is what made me go to university (Mariana, Pedagogy, 2nd Period, PROVIDA)
The statements evidenced the wish for a better life, since that with a diploma one can find a better
job, have a more decent life, help the family. This would be the key to a successful outcome, a happy life
which, according to Bourdieu (1992), characterizes the middle-class, candidates for social ascension,
which leads them to strongly invest in the schooling of their children. This means that the members of
each social group tend to invest in the schooling careers of their children, as they see the probability of
success. Thus, the interest towards higher education is an inheritance of this relation. The search for
social ascension. In view of this, we agree with Charlot (2009), when he says that mobilization also goes
through the acquisition of knowledge: studying, acquiring knowledge, guaranteeing competences that
enable a good profession. Despite the knowledge bias, the University makes sense to the students of this
research, not especially because of the knowledge to be acquired in this level of education, but for the
possibility of a better future and what this can make feasible. This situation is also very much evidenced
in the results of the research by Charlot (2009) with students of Liceu Profissional do Subúrbio: “It is
necessary to study and obtain diplomas in order to obtain a job, permitting autonomy, the construction
of a family, succeed in life and become someone in life, finally, have a good life” (Charlot, 2009, p. 55).
Likewise, the same relationship was found among students of the research by Teixeira (2010, p. 55), who
expressed “the possibility of constructing a better future related to the permanence in the University in a
direct association with access to better payment and social recognition”. For students from working-Karina Sales Vieira, Ana Maria Freitas Teixeira 9
classes researched by Zago (2006. p. 231) “higher education represents to these students an investment
to broaden their chances in the labor market which is increasingly competitive [...]”.
Within this context, out of the 6 UniAGES students participating in the interview, 4 declared that
they are not doing the course that they would like to do. Bernardo is enrolled in Physical Education and
Jamily in Mathematics, both would like to do Civil Engineering. Fernanda is also a Physical Education
student, but says she would like to be enrolled in Psychology, and finally Mariana, Pedagogy student, who
would like to be enrolled in Tourism.
With reference to the reasons why they are not enrolled in the desired formation, all of the answers
fall back on the economic situation: Fernanda declares that she does not have financial resources to be
enrolled in Psychology, despite it being a course supplied by UniAGES, since she is a Fies student and
came from another institution that did not have the Psychology course and was already studying Physical
Education through the Fies, thus she cannot change courses and remain with the scholarship; Bernardo
declares that despite Civil Engineering being a course offered by the Institution, there was no available
ProUni scholarship, and among the courses with available scholarships there was IT and Physical
Education, courses in which his grades would permit him to enroll. Upon enrollment there were no
longer scholarships for IT, so he opted for Physical Education, once he did not have financial resources
to pay the monthly installments for Civil Engineering without the scholarship; Jamily obtained a
scholarship to study Civil engineering in Salvador, through a letter of recommendation from the director
of the school in which she did her high school. She started her studies living with relatives. However,
she returned to Paripiranga due to the difficulties for her upkeep in the city, despite living with an aunt,
as well as issues with the relatives. Thus, she decided to enroll in Mathematics, once she gives remedial
classes in this discipline and reports that she likes calculation, and the Civil Engineering course at
UniAGES is too expensive, even with the Fies subsidy, due to the high monthly installments and costs
with technical materials. Accordingly, Mariana does not study Tourism, once it is not offered by the
Institution, and she does not have the economic conditions to go to any other University in another city.
It should be observed that out of the courses they wanted to take, only Tourism was not offered
by UniAGES, indicating that the efforts undertaken during elementary education were not sufficient to
obtain a scholarship for the course they planned to take, through a better grade in the ENEM exam. Not
only is elementary education poor, but it is supposed that the students did not dedicate themselves, and
did not study sufficiently to compete with other students. Mariana says that if she had the opportunity,
she would immediately take the Tourism course. Which opportunity would that be? For Mariana it would
mean having the financial conditions.
Wow, if I had the opportunity, if I had the money. Wow! I would have done remote
studies, but I am afraid because there is the University here. But it is not possible.
I would not be able to do both, so I thought it was better to do only one (Mariana,
Pedagogy, 2nd Period, PROVIDA)
In view of the exposed, it is observed that among the 4 interviewed students who did to enroll in
the course they wanted to, there was unanimous reference to financial conditions. None of them
mentioned that they should have worked harder in their studies during high school in order to obtain a
scholarship for the desired course. However, all of them, with the exception of Mariana, planned to take
the course of their dreams after concluding their first graduation, such as Bernardo: “I believe so. After
finishing the course I am on, I will enroll for the one I want, Civil Engineering” (Bernardo, Physical
Education, 2nd Period, PROUNI).
Supposedly, after concluding the course they will have better financial conditions to pay the
monthly installments of a university. This indicates that they do not plan on enrolling in a public
university, they plan on leaving their home towns and taking their course, taking as reference only what
UniAGES offers.10
The 4 students who studied a course different to the one initially desired, were questioned as to
what made them chose the course that they are taking at UniAGES. About this matter, Mariana says
that she opted for the least expensive course; Jamily chose because she liked calculations and because she
gave remedial classes in the Mathematics discipline; Fernanda opted for the course that she heard was
the easiest one, Bernardo says that he chose the course which his ENEM grade permitted. It should be
observed that they all said that they did not have clear information about the courses:
In my case, there were other scholarships, only my grade, due to the cut-off grade,
only permitted the physical education course (Bernardo, Physical Education, 2nd
Period, PROUNI)
Thinking that it is the easiest course most people think that, but once they reach
university, they have to take disciplines such as Anatomy and others that are very
complicated. It is the easiest and also the cheapest (Fernanda, Physical Education,
1st Period, FIES)
Two of the interviewed students, one from the course of Mathematics and another Physics, did
not imagine, exactly, that they would be constantly faced with calculation contents, because once they
were enrolling in an undergraduate course, they imagined that most of the formation would be based on
pedagogical and didactic disciplines. This indicates that they were not prepared for entering a University,
that the Public Schools did not prepare them for this new educational phase, not even the private school
Jamily went to. In view of this, it is possible to perceive that the search for a higher education course is
guided more by the guarantee of employability after concluding the course than for the wish for a special
knowledge from a course. In this way, due to the impossibility of studying the planned course initially,
they chose another course to guarantee a diploma, which is their main need at this time.
Of how it would be? I knew it would be guided for the formation as a teacher, for
elementary education. So, I was aware that I would not see calculations as deeply as
I would have liked, but that I would see something (Jamily, Matematics, 2nd Period,
FIES).
The student of Biology, on the other hand, thought, taking as reference the etymology of the name,
that they would be working directly with nature, with life in its different forms, clearly imagining that they
would be going directly to the “forest”:
I had no idea of what I would see, what I would take, [with reference to the
disciplines] so I imagined: “when I get there I will be going straight to the forest”
but that is not what happened, I saw specific subjects, but I wished to go to the
forest.. (Daiany, Biology, 1st Period, PROVIDA).
Mariana, who studies Pedagogy, on the other hand, enrolled in the course despite having a negative
outlook about it :
In my mind only “you are going to hang around in a room”, directly. Stay with
children beside you…that’s it. Only that now….up until the pedagogy week we are
going to present a paper that, let us say, let me discover, because I didn’t know, that
the educator can work in hospitals, in management of companies, these things. The
idea “I am going to study pedagogy”, is disappointing, because it means spending
various years in a room with a load of children. Sometimes you may not feel patient.
Think about it, in a room and you discover there that it is not what you want to be,
what you need to be. That’s it. But then I made this discovery and I cheered up
(Mariana, Pedagogy, 2nd Period, PROVIDA)Karina Sales Vieira, Ana Maria Freitas Teixeira 11
To enroll in higher education is not a trivial path for scholarship holders at UniAGES. To reach
these spaces that were previously of the elite, there were lengthy paths, overcoming the weakness of basic
education, where schools, with exception to private network, seem not to prepare students with quality.
The small importance given by the elementary education was observed in the words of Fernanda (Physical
Education, 1st Period, Fies), when she emphasizes that she does not remember having learned anything
that was important for the course that she is enrolled in: “as far as I remember, nothing was important”.
Through this statement it is possible to imagine how outdated elementary education is, public
education, when the student remains nine years in elementary school, from 1st to 9th grade, and leaves
saying that there was nothing of importance. A research by Berger (2010) points out that in the outlook
of the students, high school, especially the one offered in the state network, does not favor the mastery
of subjects and of scientific knowledge, which can be attributed to both external as internal factors in
relation to the school environment. The students claim that teachers teach disciplines of an area different
to their formation, which does not contribute towards learning. “Due to this situation, the student in
public schools feel certain difficulties in higher education” (Berger, 2010, p. 87), so much so that they
enroll without any information about the course they have chosen. This, however, does not authorize
us to say that all public-school students feel difficulties, have little cultural capital, and do not have
successful outcomes in the university, or that they learned nothing and that nothing in their basic
education was important, because it is necessary also to consider the relationship of the subjects with
knowledge, with the school and with themselves (Charlot, 2009).
Final considerations
While taking up the data and the discussions presented herein, it is possible to say that there is an
marked expectation in relation to the university, explained by the absence, in the family and in the social
environment, of references, information, kinship with university institutions, that is to say, these are
subjects that mingle with people, often friends, relatives who never reached even high school, which,
therefore, raises the expectation of entering this space, experimenting, getting to know it. Furthermore,
there is a valorization of education which tends to consider Higher Education as a special education
baseline, where it is possible to find the desired key to the future, a means of insertion to the job market
with relative advantage in the face of the intense competitive logic leading to the search for professional
survival.
The school trajectory of these students is marked, simultaneously, by the incentive of teachers
from fundamental education, but also by the lack of incentive from the teachers and from the school
regarding access to information on education, courses, requirements and career possibilities and
complementary formation, evidencing, once again, the old debate about the fragile (and sometimes
nonexistent) gangway between high school and higher education.
The students presented herein are young, of a working-class origin, who went to public schools,
and already during elementary school began preparing projects to enroll in higher education, some with
well-defined courses and others with uncertain projections. It seems they understood at an early age the
relationships between education and employment and how the articulation between these two social
dimensions can produce effects on their own lives.
This somewhat diffused understanding, in relation to the specific situation of their families,
colleagues and friends is one of the ingredients that can assist in the understanding of a certain degree of
their mobilization in the search for concrete possibilities to lengthen their studies in the direction of
higher education, even when this implies in becoming more flexible, or even giving up or postponing,
initial dreams and projects for professional qualification. Here the university diploma merges with life
changing, having a more decent life, help the family, social ascension and recognition, recurrent aspects
in researches involving relationships of the working-class with education, revealing, at the same time, the
stead and the multiple significances that access to a university can have for these youngsters.12
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camadas populares. Revista Brasileira de Educação, 11 (32), .226-370.Karina Sales Vieira, Ana Maria Freitas Teixeira 13 About the Authors KARINA SALES VIEIRA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7763-8569 Bachelor of Arts. PhD student in Education at Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS). Professor at Centro Universitário AGES (UniAGES). Researcher at EDUCON (Education and Contemporary Research Group). E-mail: vieirask@hotmail.com ANA MARIA FREITAS TEIXEIRA ORCID: https://orcid.org/000-0001-9029-3676 Sociologist. Doctorate in Educational Sciences at Universidade Paris 8. Associate Professor at Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia. Professor at Centro de Cultura, Linguagens e Tecnologias Aplicadas (UFRB/CECULT). Deputy-coordinator of the Postgraduate course in Education, Culture and Diversity. Researcher at EDUCON (Education and Contemporary Research Group). E-mail: anabrteixeira@hotmail.com Submitted: Dec 18, 2020. Accepted: Mar. 4, 2021.
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