Indigenous students' access to the Federal University of Maranhão: the implications of the Ethnic Self-Declaration Verification Commission

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the access of indigenous students to the Federal University of Maranhão-UFMA, focusing on the implications that come from the implementation of the Commission for Verification of Ethnic Self-Declaration in the admission process, allocation of seats, and profile of indigenous students enrolled in on-campus courses at this university from 2007 to 2021. The research is exploratory-descriptive, and the analysis relied, among others, on the perspective of Bourdieusian social theory and on documentary analysis of institutional regulations and reports from the Integrated System of Management of Academic Activities of UFMA. It was observed that, following the Commission's establishment, new criteria for indigenous identity are required to minimize fraud. Despite a decrease in the occupancy rate of these seats, the data on the profile of incoming students indicate a more effective representation of indigenous individuals.