Affirmative Actions Policy
The Graduate Program in Communication and Territorialities (PósCom-UFES) has been a pioneer in the state of Espírito Santo in implementing and consolidating affirmative action policies in graduate education.
Since 2016, the program has reserved spots for Black (pretos/as and pardos/as) and Indigenous applicants, becoming one of the first in the state to take on this commitment. Initially, this reservation corresponded to 25% of all available spots. Starting with the 2020 call for applications, this percentage increased to 35%, and new categories were added: transgender individuals (including travestis, trans men, and trans women), people with disabilities, and applicants with refugee status or humanitarian visas, each receiving 5% of the spots.
More recently, with the adoption of UFES Graduate School Normative Ordinance No. 09/2024—which regulates the university-wide affirmative action policy for all graduate programs—PósCom began reserving 50% of its admissions slots for affirmative action categories. The current distribution is:
• 38% for Black applicants (pretos/as and pardos/as);
• 6% for people with disabilities;
• 3% for Indigenous and quilombola applicants;
• 2% for transgender individuals (travestis and trans people);
• 1% for refugees or applicants with humanitarian visas.
Additionally, if the program has recorded, over the past five years, an enrollment rate of women lower than 50% compared to men, one spot must be reserved for female applicants, as specified in the same ordinance.
PósCom was also the first UFES program to create specific spots for refugees and/or individuals with humanitarian visas.
These measures are part of a broader effort to democratize access to graduate education, in alignment with national guidelines for inclusion and historical redress. For example, Normative Ordinance Nº. 13/2016 from the Brazilian Ministry of Education encourages graduate programs to adopt affirmative actions aimed at the inclusion of Black, Indigenous, and disabled individuals.
How It Works
Applicants who wish to apply through the affirmative action track must self-declare during the application process by completing a specific form and submitting the required documentation for their category:
Black (preto/parda) applicants undergo a verification process conducted by hetero-identification committees.
Indigenous and quilombola applicants must submit, in addition to the self-declaration form, documentation issued by recognized leaders and/or representative associations.
People with disabilities must provide a medical report that includes clinical description, degree of disability, ICD code, and relevant supporting exams.
Trans applicants self-identify on the form and may also submit additional documentation, such as a full birth certificate (optional).
Refugees or applicants with humanitarian visas must present an official recognition document issued by CONARE or a pending refugee application protocol.
These initiatives reflect PósCom-UFES’s commitment to equity, diversity, and social justice in academic training. The program believes that graduate education should be a space for plural knowledge production, committed to addressing the historical inequalities that affect access to education in Brazil. By establishing a comprehensive affirmative action policy, the program reaffirms its role as an active agent in building a more inclusive and representative public university.
