Effect of Affirmative Action on Access to Academic Grants in Higher Education

ABSTRACT Objetives: access to higher education in Brazil, in the context of affirmative action policies, has been extensively debated, focusing mainly on student admission and trajectory. This study broadens this discussion by exploring affirmative action students’ access to academic opportunities during undergraduate studies, analyzing the effects of affirmative action on access to academic grants. Theoretical approach: the aim is to analyze how socio-economic characteristics and the mode of admission (open competition or affirmative action) affect students’ access to academic opportunities, with an emphasis on academic grants. Methods: using microdata from the 2019 National Student Performance Exam (ENADE), we conducted aggregate econometric analyses using Logit and segmented by academic grant category econometric analyses using multinomial Logit. Results: the results show an unequal distribution of academic grants in favor of affirmative action students, but influenced by socioeconomic factors. Conclusions: the conclusions of this study contribute to the understanding of the effectiveness of affirmative action policies in the context of academic opportunities, providing insights for the development of more inclusive and equitable policies in Brazilian higher education.