Políticas de assistência estudantil da UNEMAT: um estudo sobre as (in)visibilidades de desigualdades sociais e educacionais

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation aims to understand the production and effects of the Student Assistance Policy at the Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso Carlos Alberto Reyes Maldonado (UNEMAT) in relation to its users, analyzing whether its constitution as “assisted” (in)visibilizes social and educational inequalities. The research problem was guided by the following questions: What narratives are produced about the students who benefit from this policy? Does it (in)visibilize social and educational inequalities? Do UNEMAT students see student assistance as a form of State aid or as a mechanism of social rights? The methodology combined document analysis with the application of questionnaires to both users and non-users of the policy. The theoretical framework supported the understanding of neoliberal rationality and the ways it produces social inequalities, particularly through the weakening of class-based analysis and the reinforcement of meritocracy. The document analysis showed that, for years, UNEMAT granted scholarships in exchange for administrative tasks, and that current policies still contain punitive elements that both stigmatize students and reinforce inequality. Student discourse revealed tensions around the meanings of rights, aid, help, and work—tensions that reflect differing modes of subjectivation and often reinforce individualism. Despite contradictions and neoliberal traces, the Student Assistance Policy is essential to ensure access, retention, and graduation. The thesis argues that creating public university policies requires viewing access, permanence, and completion as social rights and continuously questioning structural inequalities.