Otherness in the national graduate education system: mapping and problematizing diversity in Brazilian humanities and social sciences

Abstract

This article presents some of the results from the research project “Otherness in the national post-graduate education system: mapping and problematizing diversity in Brazilian humanities and social sciences”, associated to CAPES, a Brazilian federal government agency for PhD courses and students. The main objective was to map and analyze the implementation of affirmative action policies and reserved-seat quotas in Post-Graduate Programs of Humanities such as Applied Social Sciences, Linguistics, Literature, and Arts, focusing on admission processes for the year of 2025. This study employed bibliographic and documentary research methods, combining quantitative and qualitative data extracted from the Sucupira Platform and official public notices from 1,560 academic and professional programs. The results present and reflect upon variations in the distribution of openings across the country's regions, specific programs, public and private institutions, and other variables. The study concludes that, despite the progress driven by the quota law of 2023 and expectations surrounding CAPES’ new 2025–2028 Quadrennial Evaluation Guidelines, significant challenges remain in ensuring equity in the distribution of openings, student retention policies, and increased diversity within both the student body and the faculty, those factors that have fostered a clear plurality in the construction of knowledge and practices within universities.