17/01/2022 19:40 Brazil's universities take affirmative action - BBC News

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Brazil's universities take affirmative action

By Julia Carneiro

BBC Brasil, Rio de Janeiro

28 August 2013

Antonio Oliveira has benefited from the "quotas" in the first semester since the law came into effect

Twenty-four-year-old Antonio Oliveira was born into a poor, mixed race

family in the state of Maranhao in north-east Brazil.

As a teenager he had to balance his time between school and helping his
parents harvest vegetables to sell at a farmer's market, and doing other small
jobs to scrape by.

Until recently, he says the only prospects for those growing up in his city,
Colinas, were to work with crops or to get a post at the city hall - "a mediocre
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17/01/2022 19:40 Brazil's universities take affirmative action - BBC News
job that people think is heaven," as he puts it.

But Antonio has just finished his first term studying Economic Sciences at Rio
de Janeiro's prestigious Federal University (UFRJ), a dream he had nurtured
since his days at a rural public school.

His placement represents a radical change in the Brazilian university system.

Competition for places

A new law approved a year ago reserves 50% of spots in Brazil's federal
universities for students coming from public schools, low-income families and
who are of African or indigenous descent.

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The number of posts reserved for black, mixed race and indigenous students
will vary according to the racial make-up of each Brazilian state.

Ten years ago affirmative action gradually started being adopted in both state
and federally funded Brazilian universities, in an attempt to give
underprivileged Brazilians better chances of getting free higher education -
and thus access to better jobs.

Half of Brazil's population is of African descent, but the country's public

universities tend to reflect the Brazilian upper classes - who are mostly white.

Although these universities are free, those who traditionally made it in usually
came from expensive private schools. Students from public education - the
majority of whom are black or mixed race - were less likely to secure one of the
highly competitive places.

Now the "quotas" are mandatory in all of Brazil's 59 federal universities, which
have until 2016 to reserve half of their positions for affirmative action.

Controversial issue

Antonio Freitas says the country is moving backwards with the quota policies

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17/01/2022 19:40 Brazil's universities take affirmative action - BBC News
"I think this is a life-changing opportunity," says Antonio. "I hope I will get a
good job after university and be able to give my parents more comfort as they
grow old."

But racial quotas have sparked widespread controversy in Brazil. Many who are
against them argue that easing access to higher education denies the principle
of merit that brings excellence to universities.

"This is bad for the future of Brazil, because the main objective of universities
is research, is to achieve quality," says Antonio Freitas, provost of the Getulio
Vargas Foundation, a prestigious private university.

"Eventually you may not have the most qualified people in engineering, in
medical school, in the most challenging areas which Brazil needs to develop."

Mr Freitas says Brazil is trying to solve a problem artificially. Instead of giving

everyone good basic education, and thus conditions to compete as equals, the
government is "trying to force students without preparation into university".

Quota critics also argue that Brazil has never before had public policies based
on race and that this establishes divisions in society. They say that promoting
these policies would contradict Brazil's national identity, where most of the
population is mixed race.

Slavery legacy
Before the Quotas Law was introduced for federal universities, the State
University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) was a pioneer of affirmative action.

After 10 years, rector Ricardo Vieiralves says their experience challenges

critics' arguments and says the quotas programme has been successful.

He says there are fewer dropouts among students admitted through quotas,
and they are the ones who graduate the fastest.

"They have lower grades in the beginning but are level with the others by the
middle of the course and sometimes excel non-quota students in the end."

Mr Vieiralves says Brazil was unprepared for the abolition of slavery, which
came to an end 125 years ago but its legacy has impacted generations of
Brazilians of African descent and left deep racial inequality within the
country's society.

"Brazilian studies always showed that poor and black people did not make it
into higher education. University was a place for the elites.

"Quota students have a new opportunity, and they grasp it and study like
crazy," says Mr Vieiralves.

Breaking expectations
In Brazil, poverty and a darker skin colour often coincide. On average, black or
mixed race people earn little over half of what white Brazilians do.

Those of African descent spend on average two fewer years at school than the
country's white population. With less education, many African-Brazilians only
manage to get basic jobs.

Joao Feres Jr, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, says
it is "undeniable" that there is still racial discrimination in Brazil. He believes
quotas are necessary not only to level inequalities but also to challenge
expectations.

"You grow up in a society where you never see a black person in a position of
power or high status, so you learn to associate black people [with] menial jobs,
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17/01/2022 19:40 Brazil's universities take affirmative action - BBC News
[with] low paid-jobs.

"Even people who are not actively prejudiced build up this kind of
expectation," he says. "I think the affirmative action breaks with that."

University 'gap'
But even as the university system tries to level the playing field, the Brazilian
job market still largely reflects the white elite.

Less than 30% of Brazil's employers are black or mixed race. But some
companies are trying to change the make-up of their workforce.

IBM is one of them. Logistics procurement manager Warley Costa is in charge

of a human resources group that aims to increase racial diversity at the
company in Brazil.

Warley Costa, who is mixed race, is in charge of promoting racial diversity in IBM Brazil

But when the company announces job opportunities, only a small number of
Afro-descendents come forward as candidates, he says.

"We see a gap on the university level. There is a small number of black people
being prepared to go into university and to fill market positions that are open."

The company liaises with universities, high schools and institutions linked to
Brazilian black communities to attract and better prepare candidates.

"We are trying to support them in order to give them better conditions to fill
the job opportunities we have open," says Mr Costa.

He says the number of black or mixed race employees has been growing by
about 3% a year in IBM Brazil, which employs close to 20,000 people.

"Today I can say that we are ok reflecting the Brazilian population inside our
team. We have a big diversity here. We don't have gaps. But we are trying to
grow, as much as possible."

You can hear more on this story on Business Daily on BBC World Service on
Friday at 08:30 BST (07:30 GMT) and 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT).

More on this story

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-23862676 4/12
17/01/2022 19:40 Brazil's universities take affirmative action - BBC News
y

Brazil backs university shake-up

8 August 2012

Brazil profile

3 January 2019

University race quotas row in Brazil

1 November 2009

Black Brazil seeks a better future

25 September 2006

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