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Higher education in Brazil: an exploratory study based on supply and demand conditions

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Abstract

This paper aims to assess the context of Brazilian higher education institutions, its undergraduate courses and students, comparing their supply and demand conditions. It adopts a three-phase methodological approach: first, an inductive and exploratory step through the longitudinal analysis of data provided by the Brazilian Census of Higher Education, between the years of 2008 and 2014 and the Demographic Census of 2010; second, an analysis between the most important variables identified in the exploratory study (step 1) and its influence on the undergraduate courses’ perceived quality through the General Index of Evaluated Courses, which is responsible for the evaluation of all higher education institutions (HEIs) in Brazil; third, a comparison to other countries is performed, based on the 2015–2016 OECD Education Indicators. Its contribution shall enable HEIs to identify future trends concerning its sustainability conditions, providing subsidies for strategic information. It concludes that offer conditions are diverse, and that, especially in Brazil, demand is increasingly limited for the population considered ideal for undergraduate courses. Also, the expansion of students’ enrollment during the period was desirable and was intertwined with the diversification of higher education establishments and the diversity of programs, due to the national higher education policy system. However, this increasing diversity of HEIs and courses, contrary to what some authors (Teichler in High Educ 56(3):349–379, 1) propose, does not represent an improvement in the number of undergraduate students in Higher Education as most of the students do not conclude their studies.

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Fig. 1
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Source: MEC/INEP

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Source: MEC/INEP

Fig. 4

Source: MEC/ICEP and IBGE

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Source: MEC/INEP

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Source: MEC/INEP

Fig. 7

Source: MEC/INEP

Fig. 8

Source: MEC/INEP

Fig. 9

Source: MEC, INEP

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Source: MEC, INEP

Fig. 12

Source: MEC, INEP, 2014

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Source: MEC, INEP

Fig. 14

Source: MEC/INEP

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Source: MEC/INEP

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Notes

  1. Censo da Educação Superior.

  2. The Southeast Region is composed of the States of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro.

  3. The microdata source is available only for the period of 2012–2014.

  4. Higher Education Census of 2013 and 2014.

  5. In this case, considered only the public scholarships.

  6. The CPC is an indicator of quality that evaluates higher education. It is calculated in the year following the completion of the ENADE of each area, based on the performance evaluation of students, faculty, infrastructure, didactic-pedagogical resources and other inputs, according to technical guidance approved by MEC/INEP. ENADE—The National Student Performance Exam—is a mandatory exam that evaluates the performance of undergraduate students in relation to the syllabus contents, skills and competences acquired during their undergraduate course.

  7. CAPES is a foundation linked to the Ministry of Education (MEC) of Brazil that works in the expansion and consolidation of stricto sensu (master's and doctorate) post-graduation courses in all the states of the country.

  8. OECD 1—Education. OECD 2—Humanities and arts. OECD 3—Social sciences, business and law. OECD 4—Science, math and computing. OECD 5—Engineering, production and construction. OECD 6—Agriculture and veterinary. OECD 7—Health and welfare. OECD 8—Services.

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Correspondence to Sílvia Regina Machado de Campos.

Appendix: Age of undergraduate students in the OECD main area, 2013–2014, Brazil

Appendix: Age of undergraduate students in the OECD main area, 2013–2014, Brazil

See Figs. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.

Fig. 16
figure 16

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in education, 2013.

Fig. 17
figure 17

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in humanities and arts, 2013.

Fig. 18
figure 18

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in the social sciences, business, and law areas, 2013.

Fig. 19
figure 19

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in science, mathematics, and computing areas, 2013.

Fig. 20
figure 20

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in education, 2014.

Fig. 21
figure 21

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in humanities and arts, 2014.

Fig. 22
figure 22

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in the social sciences, business, and law areas, 2014.

Fig. 23
figure 23

Source: MEC/INEP

Age of undergraduate students in science, mathematics, and computing areas, 2014.

Fig. 24
figure 24

Age of the undergraduate students in engineering, production, and construction areas, 2013. MEC/INEP

Fig. 25
figure 25

Age of undergraduate students in agriculture and veterinary areas, 2013. MEC/INEP

Fig. 26
figure 26

Age of undergraduate students in health and welfare areas, 2013. MEC/INEP

Fig. 27
figure 27

Age of undergraduate students in services, 2013. MEC/INEP

Fig. 28
figure 28

Age of the undergraduate students in engineering, production, and construction areas, 2014. MEC/INEP

Fig. 29
figure 29

Age of undergraduate students in agriculture and veterinary areas, 2014. MEC/INEP

Fig. 30
figure 30

Age of undergraduate students in health and welfare areas, 2014. MEC/INEP

Fig. 31
figure 31

Age of undergraduate students in services, 2014. MEC/INEP

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de Campos, S.R.M., Henriques, R. & Yanaze, M.H. Higher education in Brazil: an exploratory study based on supply and demand conditions. Univ Access Inf Soc 17, 711–733 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-017-0537-9

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