Abstract
Abstract: Introduction: There are still many economic and racial barriers for black and indigenous peoples regarding access to a university degree in Brazil. Although Brazil is mistakenly considered a racial democracy, black people, indigenous peoples and those of low social status are the most affected by such difficulties regarding access to the university. Medical schools are traditionally attended by white, wealthy and upper-middle-class groups, although 54% of Brazilians consider themselves to be African descendants. To deal with this scenario, since 2013, 50% of all vacancies in public universities have been reserved for low social classes, indigenous peoples and African descendants. Our objective was to describe the socioeconomic and racial profile of those attending a public medical school in the state of Rio de Janeiro during a five-year period, analyzing the associations between the Brazilian segregationist structure and inclusion policies. Method: A census study was carried out, including all groups that entered the medical school at a public university in the state of Rio de Janeiro between 2013 and 2017. We applied a self-administered questionnaire that addressed social, ethnic, economic and university admission aspects. The data were analyzed by a simple description of the frequencies and by bivariate analysis. Results: The results show that the majority profile is white, with an annual income higher than US$ 8,640, coming from a private school, with financial support from the family, both parents with higher education and no gender difference. As for the inclusion of non-white people into the course, the current quota system has not significantly increased their presence. Conclusion: We conclude that racial inclusion policies subordinated to economic ones seem to be a barrier to the entry of non-whites to medical school, contributing to racial inequality.
Highlights
There are still many economic and racial barriers for black and indigenous peoples regarding access to a university degree in Brazil
Our research describes the socioeconomic and racial profile of medical students at a public university in Rio de Janeiro, enrolled between 2013 and 2017, a period determined for Brazilian federal universities to change from the system of broad competition to that of social quotas
Our data showed that there was no difference between the racial profile of the students admitted through the broad competition system and quotas without racial criteria; the census occurred during the transition from the broad competition to the quota system, making this finding a relative one
Summary
There are still many economic and racial barriers for black and indigenous peoples regarding access to a university degree in Brazil. Medical schools are traditionally attended by white, wealthy and upper-middle-class groups, 54% of Brazilians consider themselves to be African descendants. To deal with this scenario, since 2013, 50% of all vacancies in public universities have been reserved for low social classes, indigenous peoples and African descendants. Our objective was to describe the socioeconomic and racial profile of those attending a public medical school in the state of Rio de Janeiro during a five-year period, analyzing the associations between the Brazilian segregationist structure and inclusion policies. Individuals from the lower economic classes experience inequalities – related to racial differences – when seeking opportunities in a free market society, in which the social ascension of white people prevails[14]
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