The University Council of USP (University of Sao Paulo) approved this Monday (22) a policy of racial quotas for hiring teachers and civil servants. The reservation of vacancies for black, brown and indigenous candidates, however, will only be guaranteed when the contest provides for the opening of more than three vacancies.
Black university students and collectives are against the new rule, which according to them makes quotas for teacher contests in practice unfeasible. In general, notices for public tenders for teachers provide for the opening of only one vacancy.
A Sheet analyzed the public notices that were launched and concluded in 2022, out of 140 tenders for the hiring of full professor and doctor professor, only one provided for the opening of more than three vacancies.
The main university in the country, USP has only 2.29% of its teaching staff made up of black and brown professors. Only 0.02% is indigenous.
According to the rules approved this Monday, for contests with one or two vacancies, candidates will receive a different score. For selection processes offering three or more vacancies, 20% of them will be reserved for blacks, browns and indigenous people.
The university was in a hurry to pass such a policy, as the Justice suspended two contests opened by the institution this year precisely because he understood that he was not complying with a São Paulo law that determines that public bodies have a differentiated scoring system or racial quotas.
According to the rectory, the suspended competitions seek to hire 79 employees for the positions of administrative analyst, veterinarian and attorney. The institution informed that the notices will be rectified and published again with the incorporation of affirmative actions.
Students complain about the fact that the discussion was done in a hurry and criticize the format of the policy for not guaranteeing the reservation of vacancies for teaching competitions.
“The bonus policy, although important, is ineffective to ensure that USP reaches the same percentage of PPI professors [pretos, pardos e indígenas] than the percentage of these groups in the total population of the state of São Paulo. The only affirmative policy capable of ensuring the achievement of the goal is the reservation of vacancies”, said in a note the DCE (Central Directory of Students).
They defended a proposal that, in the case of contests with only one vacancy, the selection process would be exclusive to black, brown or indigenous people. When the announcement had two vacancies, at least one of them would be reserved for racial quotas. In case there are no black, brown or indigenous candidates for the contest, vacancies could be open to broad competition.
Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Júnior, rector of the university, defended the system approved this Monday. He admits that the prediction of quotas should, in general, include only civil service exams.
“The bonus system should end up being used more for competitions for professors, since, in general, the departments only open one or two vacancies. I believe that it was the best format found. We cannot have a very aggressive policy, which puts risk the quality of a university with the prestige of USP.”
“It’s better to make progressive movements than to take big leaps and then have to retreat. The approved proposal even provides for an impact assessment when the policy completes three years. With the results, we will be able to assess whether changes are necessary”, said the dean.
