Graduate Education in Brazil - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Graduate Education in Brazil

Simon Schwartzman

Institute for Studies on Labour and Society, Rio de Janeiro

simon@iets.org.br

• Area
• 8,511,965 sq km (slightly smaller than the US)
• Population
• 196,342,592
• Ethnic composition:
• white 53.7%, mulatto (mixed white and black) 38.5%, black 6.2%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 0.9%, unspecified 0.7% (2000 census)
• Organization:
• Federal Government, 27 states, about 6000 municipalities
• Per capita income:
• about US$ 7,000. High rates of social inequality, richer population in the Southern states, poorer population in the Northeast
• Urbanization:
• 80% Urban, several mega cities (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro), Recife)

• Universal access was achieved in the 1990s, but there are serious problems:
• Quality is low, many students never learn how to read and write properly
• Large number of students drop out at age 15;
• Most schools are public and free, but the best are private.
• There is a high correlation between SES and education achievement

• Only 50% of the age cohort is enrolled;
• Content is traditional and academic, based on the entrance exam requirements for higher education
• Very little professional or vocational education, no alternative tracking
• Many students who enter secondary schools never finish
• Most schools are public and free, but only students in the best private schools are admitted to the more prestigious higher education institutions

• Organized according to the European (French, Italian) tradition of professional schools; first universities are from the 1930s
• Limited coverage: in spite of recent expansion, only about 11% of the age cohort is enrolled;
• Public higher education is free, but enrolls only 25% of the students
• Quality is very uneven both in public and private institutions

• Introduced in the early 1970s, under the assumption that universities should evolve towards the German / American model of “research universities”
• Supported by the National Research Council and CAPES, an agency within the Ministry of Education
• Adoption of the American-type graduate programs for MA and Ph.D. education

• Most programs are in public universities and in a few government research institutes;
• Support is provided directly to the programs by National (CNPq and CAPES) and state (FAPESP) agencies, bypassing the university’s administration;
• Programs are evaluated by CAPES, and the best receive fellowships for their students and additional support;
• CNPq and FAPESP also provide support for research projects;
• Fellowships are also available for graduate education abroad

• Peer review: assessment committees designated by CAPES after nominations from universities and academic associations;
• Quantitative indicators: academic publications, number of doctoral and MA degrees granted and other considerations (social relevance, solidarity)
• 7 points ranking system: 7 should mean high international quality
• Independent evaluations by CNPq and FAPESP, also based on peer review

• Achievements:
• Brazil has today the best and largest graduate education sector in the LA region
• Academic publications and research are growing steadily
• But:
• What is the impact on higher education in general?
• Which are the benefits to society?

• Good quality, graduate education remains limited to selected public universities, but today 75% of the students are in mostly teaching, private institutions;
• The incentives associated with graduate education led to an inflation of graduate education degrees;
• The emphasis on academic achievement in the assessments limits applied, technical and interdisciplinary work;
• Generalized free, subsidized graduate education increases social inequity in Brazilian higher education

• The assumption that all Brazilian higher education should evolve towards the research university model did not consider the needs and characteristics of mass higher education;
• In spite of the quality control established by CAPES, there is a permanent problem of grade inflation, which is getting worse by globalization;
• It may have been better to deal with advanced research and doctoral education as a sector policy, and deal with higher education taking into account its need for differentiation

simon@iets.org.br