Affirmative Action (AA) Students in the Medical School at Santa Catarina Federal University: Intersections of Race and Class

Sep 6, 2026

The study examines the diversity of racial identities and class origins among affirmative action (AA) quota students in the medical school at UFSC/Florianópolis, Brazil. It combines analysis of socioeconomic indicators and self-declared racial data with eight in-depth interviews conducted during the second semester of 2023. After reviewing scholarship on racial relations, whiteness, and affirmative action, the work reconstructs how intersectional race-class positions shape both material and symbolic permanence strategies reported by three Black interviewees, including experiences of social and racial displacement in Santa Catarina’s medical program.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Study design and approach

Quantitative procedures

Qualitative interviews

EDUR • Educação em Revista. 2026;42;e54871 DOI: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102-469854871-T](http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102-469854871-T) Preprint: [https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.9984](https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.9984) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ARTICLE Affirmative Action (AA) Students in the Medical School at Santa Catarina Federal University: Intersections of Race and Class 1 EDUARDO VILAR BONALDI1 ORCID: [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-101X](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-101X)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-101X)<[eduvilarbon@gmail.com](eduvilarbon@gmail.com) > LUAN VIRICIMO1 ORCID: [https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1393-1784](https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1393-1784)[ ](https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1393-1784)< [l.viricimo@gmail.com](l.viricimo@gmail.com)> 1 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. ABSTRACT: Our text points to the diversity in racial identities and class origins observed among AA students in the medical school at UFSC/Florianopolis, Brazil. This diversity is explored based on the analysis of both socioeconomic and self-declared racial data available for the beneficiaries of the AA policy in this career, as well as the eight in-depth interviews conducted with AA students in such highly selective course during the second semester of 2023. After discussing part of the literature on racial relations, whiteness, and affirmative action in the country, we seek to reconstruct the different intersections of race and class experienced by three of our black interviewees: one from a 'low' social background and two from a 'lower middle' background. In this way, we aim to show how these intersectional positions shape both the 'material' and 'symbolic' conditions and strategies of permanence reported by these interviewees, as well as how such interviewees deal with their possible feelings of 'social and racial displacement' in the main medical course of one of the ‘whitest’ states (Santa Catarina) in the country. Keywords: affirmative action, medical schools, sociology of education, racial relations and whiteness. ESTUDANTES COTISTAS NO CURSO DE MEDICINA DA UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA: INTERSECCIONALIDADES DE RAÇA E CLASSE RESUMO: Nosso texto aponta para a diversidade nas identidades raciais e nas origens de classe observadas entre estudantes cotistas do curso de medicina da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC/Florianópolis) . Tal diversidade é elaborada a partir da análise tanto dos dados socioeconômicose de autodeclaração racial, disponíveis sobre os beneficiários da política de cotas no curso, quanto dasoito entrevistas (abertas e em profundidade) realizadas junto a estudantes cotistas nessa elitizada carreira universitária, durante o segundo semestre de 2023. Após discutir a literatura sobre relações raciais, branquitude e política de ação afirmativa no país, buscamos reconstruir as interseccionalidades de raça eclasse, vivenciadas por três de nossos entrevistados negros: um de origem social baixa e dois de extraçãomédia-baixa. Dessa maneira, procuramos evidenciar como tais posições modulam as condições e as 1Article published with funding from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq/Brazil for editing, layout and XML conversion services. estratégias de permanência material e simbólica relatadas por esses entrevistados, além de seus eventuais sentimentos de “deslocamento social e racial” no principal curso de medicina de Santa Catarina, uma dasunidades federativas mais brancas do país. Palavras-chave: ação afirmativa, curso de medicina, sociologia da educação, relações raciais, branquitude. ESTUDIANTES DE ACCIÓN AFIRMATIVA EN EL CURSO DE MEDICINA DE LA UNIVERSIDAD FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA: INTERSECCIONALIDADES DE RAZA Y CLASE RESUMEN: Nuestro texto señala la diversidad en las identidades raciales y en los orígenes

FAQs

What does the study focus on regarding AA students in medical school?

It focuses on how racial identities and class origins vary among AA quota beneficiaries in the UFSC medical program, and how these factors intersect.

What research methods are used in the paper?

The paper combines quantitative analysis of socioeconomic and self-declared racial data with qualitative analysis based on eight in-depth interviews.

How do intersectional race-class positions affect students’ experiences?

The analysis highlights how these positions shape both material and symbolic conditions and the strategies used for staying in the highly selective course, including feelings of social and racial displacement.

Sep 6, 2026

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