Resisting Racism: Life and Career Narratives of Black Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Abstract The present study aimed to identify how racism appears in the lives and careers of Black undergraduate students in a Brazilian Public Higher Education Institution. For this purpose, this study conducted 27 narrative interviews with self-declared black undergraduates, which were analyzed using the technique of thematic Biography and Narrative Analysis. The results indicated that despite the existence of distinctions between the undergraduates’ trajectories, usually caused by socioeconomic differences, racism similarly impacts their lives and careers, presenting itself in three frequent themes, named by the researchers as: “Experiences with Racism”, “Awareness of Racism”, and “Management of Racism”. It was found that, although there are distinctions between experiences, motivated especially by socioeconomic origin and available opportunities, all participants manage the effects of racism, individually and collectively, leading them to changes in career prospects, to enable the construction of viable professional trajectories to achieve their ambitions.