Horizontal Stratification in Brazilian Higher Education and “Imperial Professions:” Medicine, Engineering, and Law Graduates from 2009 to 2017

Abstract

This paper analyzes the horizontal stratification of higher education in Brazil, focusing on engineering, medicine, and law majors. It intends to investigate whether these fields of study differ according to the socioeconomic profile of their graduates and whether these profiles have changed in light of a recent and rapid expansion of the education system. Results from multinomial models and logistic regression indicate that these fields present different patterns of inequality according to race, gender, and parents’ education. Inequalities by institutional sector and the dynamics between years were also different in each field. The study found a drop in inequalities within the period analyzed, but with important specificities. The results reinforce the hypothesis that horizontal stratification may be a mechanism to maintain inequalities in periods of expansion of education systems and that it should vary according to the professional group.

horizontal stratification; imperial professions; higher education; inequality; educational expansion