The role of student assistance policies and affirmative action in the academic success of student mothers at UFBA

Abstract

This article presents a segment of a study on the intersection between mothering and higher education, focusing on institutional student assistance policies and academic support strategies offered by higher education institutions (HEI) to student mothers. The objective is to analyze how university management contributes to the persist and academic success of student mothers, considering their perceptions of how to reconcile mothering with their academic trajectory. This analysis is based on the premise that balancing the roles of mother and student imposes challenges, including for HEI management, which aligns with the principles of social management. The research is applied in nature, targeting student assistance policy; it is descriptive and adopts a qualitative approach, combining ethnographic and autoethnographic methods, theoretical frameworks, and data collection techniques, highlighting some of the complexities of this experience. The research design culminates in an engaged study, involving reflection in action and contributing to a critical analysis of the problem. The results indicate that, although there are affirmative action and student assistance policies, they are not sufficient to ensure qualified material and symbolic permanence, due to factors such as: bureaucratic barriers to access, lack of awareness of benefits and calls for applications, and limited student reach of academic support and teacher empathy. It is concluded that a stronger conception of social management, within public HEI, would enhance the effectiveness of strategies sensitive to the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of student mothers — particularly those at the intersection of gender, race, class, and territory — who compete for access to material and symbolic resources necessary to achieve academic success. This would ultimately foster a university environment marked by greater equity, inclusion, and excellence.