Differential Access to Preparatory Courses in Brazil

Literature suggests that African-American high school students do not perform as well on the Scholastic Admissions Test (SAT) as white high school students. Scholars argue that one reason for this phenomenon is that African-American students, who are disproportionately poor, lack the resources to take SAT preparatory classes. Scholars argue that SAT preparatory classes can increase a student’s score on the exam significantly, and, as a result, white students, who more often can afford the preparatory classes, score higher on the exam. The net effect of this unequal access to SAT preparatory classes results in affirmative action for white students.

Like the above mentioned scholarship, literature suggests that Afro-Brazilian high school students do not perform as well on vestibular exams as white high school students. Vestibular exams are the exams students must take to enter Brazilian universities; each university has a its own vestibular exam, meaning students must take a separate exam for each university. I would like to research possible reasons for this trend. I hypothesize that like African-American students in the U.S., one reason Afro-Brazilian students perform less well on the vestibular exams is that they are disproportionately poor and lack the resources to take a year off from school and work to study for the vestibular exam or to take a cursinho pre-vestibular (vestibular preparatory class). If I find that my hypothesis is true, I will argue that the lack of resources Afro-Brazilians have available to study for the vestibular is a reason to retain race-based affirmative action in Brazilian universities.

To investigate the hypotheses in my proposal I plan on interviewing students at Brazilian high schools and universities. Most of my interviews will be informal because I feel that a relaxed, chatty approach will put students at ease and encourage open and honest communication. As I expect the language barrier to preclude effective communication, I will use the services of a translator.

Furthermore, if I find that my hypothesis is true, I would like to investigate whether a loan from the federal government or a microcredit organization, in addition to the student loans already provided by the government upon entrance to university, could provide Afro-Brazilian students with the resources to pay for a cursinho pre-vestibular and take a year off from school and work.