Academic mentoring for university students with Specific Educational Needs (SEN): current challenges*1,2

Abstract The development of inclusive affirmative policies has stimulated debate and reflection on the enrollment rates of groups considered vulnerable in universities, with an intersectional approach to the topic. This text aims to describe and analyze the challenges of the mentoring work provided by the Pedagogical Support and Inclusion Center (NAPI) to university students with specific educational needs (SEN) who identify as having disabilities, at a university in the interior of São Paulo state. The services were offered remotely, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, following the initial protocol for verifying specific support and retention needs to monitor the students’ academic progress. Data collection was carried out through an analysis of written records by mentors and notes from field diaries documenting the support provided to students with SEN. The collected material was analyzed based on the theoretical and methodological assumptions of Aguiar and Ozella’s Signification Framework. The data was grouped into three main themes: 1) Review of the term SEN in the university’s institutional policies; 2) Didactic-pedagogical strategies used in the classroom setting; and 3) Challenges reported by the mentors regarding their duties in the program. The results highlighted aspects of the contributions of mentoring work to the development of the individuals involved, aligning with the university’s inclusive institutional policies. However, the adoption of an intersectional perspective in the observed practice led to an evolution in the analyzed policies and literature, pointing to a transformative process in inclusive practices at the university.