BRAZIL AND PORTUGAL: AN ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL INCLUSION POLICIES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

UMA ANÁLISE DAS POLÍTICAS DE INCLUSÃO SOCIAL PARA O ENSINO SUPERIOR

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes the policies of social inclusion in higher education implemented in Brazil and Portugal, based on a literature review and content analysis. These policies aim to promote conditions in order to improve access, attendance and accomplishment on this level of education by the disadvantaged social groups. The creation and development of these policies has evolved, in parallel, with the diversity of students that reach higher education. This study allows us to conclude that the measures implemented in both countries are different. In terms of access, in Brazil,
there is a predominance of initiatives that seek equity, minding socioeconomic origin and, later, color and ethnicity; in Portugal, measures that embody some discrimination favor adults already in the labour market, as well as young people from vocational training. The most common policies that support permanence, in both countries, are financial measures.