Desigualdades horizontais no ensino superior brasileiro: análise interativa de divisões sociais em dimensões selecionadas

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the contours of gender, race/color, and social origin inequalities within selected hierarchies of Brazilian higher education. It investigates the interaction between the categories of the independent variables of interest and how the ordering of their effects occurs across the distinct outcomes analyzed. Microdata from the National Exam of Student Performance (Enade), corresponding to the 2017–2019 evaluation cycle, were used as the primary data source. To examine the dimension of positional inequalities within higher education, logistic regression models were used to estimate the interactive effects of gender and race/color, as well as the mediating and moderating role of social origin in the examined outcomes. Meanwhile, the dimension of performance inequalities was investigated using the statistical technique of Gelbach decomposition, developed for linear regression models (OLS). As a result, the research revealed a marked disadvantage for Black women in higher education. Factors associated with social origin act in mediating positional inequalities; however, their influence is stronger in shaping racial disparities and weaker for gender disparities. This occurs because, although gender and race/color are types of categorical inequalities, they operate through distinct mechanisms. Finally, regarding performance inequalities, the research demonstrated the limits of higher education as an institution capable of equalizing previously stratified trajectories, although factors related to system characteristics can contribute to reducing these discrepancies. Through the proposed quantitative methodology, this study contributes to ongoing debates surrounding intersectionality by identifying nuances in how inequalities manifest at the intersection of social divisions. One of the central contributions of this thesis lies in identifying an intrinsic gender bias in the effect of the field of study on performance discrepancies when considering higher education as a whole. As an analytical strategy to mitigate this bias, the study addressed performance disparities within the higher education system conditional on student gender.