Policies of Inclusion in Brazilian Higher Education: Between the Achievements of Access, the Challenges of Permanence, and the "Distrust" About Quality

• In Event: 79.013 - Access, Equity and Quality in Higher Education in the Americas: New Policies for Old Problems?

Abstract

In the last 20 years in Brazil, policies aimed at democratizing access to higher education have intensified and expanded vigorously. The purpose of this paper is to present a general picture of the those policies, and to specifically analyze the challenges of policies to include students with disabilities in higher education. We analyze, the tensions in defining who this being included, the adaptations implemented to secure attendance and out how the admission of this diverse public "scared" the Brazilian society. Criticisms about the potential erosion of universities’ "quality" coupled with administrative problems, financial restrictions and the overall climate of political polarization have generated higher levels of antagonism in the already contentious Higher Education landscape. This paper will conclude with recommendations of how to frame inclusion for higher education and recognizing the relevance of addressing unresolved disputes in Brazil, relationship between civil society and the university.

Author

• Geovana Mendonça Lunardi Mendes, Unviersidade do Estado de Santa Catarina