Políticas de acesso ao ensino superior: olhares e vivências da juventude campesina de Orobó-Valença/BA

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the access of young people from the peasant community Orobó-Valença/BA to higher education. The main concepts addressed include: Public Educational Policies, Rural Education, Peasant Youth, Higher Education, from the perspective of the authors Hofling (2001), Diogenes and Resende (2007), Souza (2006), Molina (2008), Bourdieu (1983), Castro (2008), Cury (2005), Caldart (2008), Arroyo (2012), Coulon (2017), Santos (2009) and Zago (2006). This is a qualitative, exploratory study that sought to answer the question: In what way do higher education access policies and the expansion of the offering of high school education relate to the perspectives of young people from Orobó regarding pursuing higher education? In methodological terms, the study begins with a conceptual literature review, subsequently followed by the application of a questionnaire to youth from Orobó who had entered higher education, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected young people, based on the questionnaire. The results indicate that the advances in basic education within the Orobó community are directly related to increased possibilities for Orobó youth to succeed in their further studies in comparison to their parents, grandparents, and older siblings. It can also be observed that the public policies for access to higher education implemented in Brazil in recent years, coupled with the expansion and interiorization of public universities, have contributed to more young people from the researched region entering public higher education, although it has been observed that most of them still enroll in private higher education.