Success in the educational field: Conditions for entry into the university in Brazil

Abstract

The Access to higher education in Brazil can be considered as a relative success in school, since only 14% of young people attended it in 2009. The objective of this article is to map the conditions necessary for this success. The methodology is quantitative, based on the socioeconomic data of the ENEM 2009 / SISU 2010, in order to look for the conditions of access to higher education. The theoretical framework was based on genetic structuralism and its developments in the New Sociology of Education. The results indicate that, although cultural capital is important, as shown by the influence of the indicators that operate it (parental schooling, reading habits, etc.), economic capital is especially determinant on the chances of success. Courses requiring a higher grade for admission filter candidates from the upper classes.