Diferencial do desempenho dos discentes que acessam as ações de permanência e os determinantes do desempenho no ensino superior federal brasileiro

Abstract

The increase in the supply of higher education has occurred worldwide, especially in the last 20 years, and new studies on the results of the educational process have become crucial. Failure (low performance, delay in completion and dropout) brings losses to individuals, the academic community, and society as a whole. Student performance, therefore, has become a variable of interest, serving for better planning of actions, improving the performance of other young people in the future, and reducing disparities among them. The increase in the educational supply of higher education in Brazil also occurred based on affirmative action policies. These actions materialize in the reservation of places (quotas) for low-income students, graduates of public schools, Black, mixed-race, indigenous people, and people with disabilities. Permanence actions are also essential measures aimed, in general, at reducing dropout rates and enhancing the quality of education. These measures are categorized into assistance/permanence scholarships and academic scholarships. The overaching objective of the thesis is to analyze the difference in the performance of students accessing permanence actions and those accessing joint admission and permanence actions. Additionally, the thesis aims to identify and analyze the determinants of student performance, with a particular emphasis on the role of affirmative policy actions and permanence. The students under investigation are part of Brazilian federal higher education system. The data sources used include microdata from the Higher Education Census of 2013, 2016, and 2019, as well as the National Higher Education Examination (ENADE) of 2017, 2018, and 2019. Methodological techniques employed encompass Propensity Score Matching, multilevel regression (enabling the analysis contextual effects), and multilevel quantile regression (for a comprehensive examination across strata of academic grades). The analyzes were conducted according to major regions and level of demand for the attended course. Furthermore, examinations were performed for student grade strata: high, medium, and low, considering three types of grades: general raw grade, general training grade, and specific training grade. The primary findings indicate that the number of students entering through quotas increased by 230% from 2013 to 2019, in contrast, the number of students with some form of permanence action increased by only 11.6% during the same period. The percentage of quota students benefiting from some form of permanence action was 39% in 2019. Due to these considerations, it is highlighted that affirmative actions and permanence actions in Brazilian federal higher education are not interconnected, posing a problem as the socioeconomic vulnerability of students persists after entering higher education. This factor can be a reason for dropouts and low performance. The study also concludes that students benefiting from some form of permanence action demonstrated better performance compared to their counterparts, with the difference reaching 4.7% higher in the analysis of the general education grade. Likewise, quota students benefiting from some form of permanence action demonstrated better performance compared to their non-benefiting peers, with a difference of 2.3 points of the general education grade, representing 4.57% increase. Through an extensive literature review, several factors influencing student performance were identified. The main factors found in the estimated models were socioeconomic factors, especially family income, age, gender, race, marital status, extra study hours, course colleagues, vocation as the main course choice, average course grade, racial quota, income quota, academic scholarship, and assistance/permanence scholarships. Academic scholarship, along with family income, are the factors that most impact student performance. The results reveal differences in the magnitude of the impact of the variables across the grade distribution stratum, but the direction of the effect (positive or negative) remains somewhat constant. Students with high grades are less sensitive to the influences of income, race, and peer support. Students benefiting from academic scholarships have a positive impact on their performance, and the higher the grade, the greater the impact. Conversely, students with assistance/permanence scholarships perform worse than others across all income strata. These results should not be construed as an argument for the extinction or invalidation of these public policies. As previously indicated, performance is comprehensive, multifaceted, multidetermined, and challenging to measure, and unequal performance does not necessarily indicate a lack of capacity or skill. Overall, the social benefits of these policies outweigh the costs due to diversity, equalization of opportunities, increased investment in education, revelation of talents that would remain undiscovered if these students did not enter the education system, and future benefits for the students' families. Students benefiting from affirmative actions and permanence are not obligated to outperform their peers, as structural, personal, historical, socioeconomic, and familial factors interfere with educational opportunities, combined with the prejudice and structural racism that permeate the lives of black people and individuals from marginalized groups in society, who are precisely the beneficiaries of these actions. For leveling and improvement the performance of these students, which implies enhancing Brazilian education, more policies need to be implemented and expanded to provide additional support so that these students have the chance to enter, adapt, and develop over time, and also, contribute to society in an equitable manner. Permanence actions play a fundamental role in this. They need to be viewed as State policies, aligning with affirmative actions, and should not focus solely on the economic aspects (which is also deficient) but also on the academic, symbolic, and psychological aspects. Furthermore, strict measures to combat prejudice, discrimination and structural racism need to be implemented in society as a whole.