(Des)caminhos de estudantes negros, cotistas e trabalhadores: vivências no curso de Psicologia da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

Abstract

This study aims to understand the experiences of Black affirmative-action students in the Psychology program at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) who reconciled undergraduate studies with paid employment at some point in their academic trajectory. Grounded in the assumptions of Historical-Cultural Psychology and the critical perspective of School and Educational Psychology, the study adopts a qualitative approach, carried out through semi-structured interviews and data analysis using Thematic Analysis. The results were organized into three axes: the meaning of university access through quota policies and the sense of belonging built among peers; the impacts of double shifts on academic performance, health, and retention; and the ethnic-racial conflicts experienced on campus, including the scarcity of Black faculty, the erasure of Afro-diasporic theoretical frameworks from the curriculum, and situations of institutional racism. The data indicate that, although affirmative action policies broaden access to higher education, the conditions for retention remain marked by material and symbolic inequalities that the university structure has yet to address in a systematic way. It is concluded that the democratization of higher education requires reforms that go beyond admission, articulating economic support, institutional racial literacy, and a critical review of the Eurocentric frameworks that still predominate in Psychology training in Brazil.