The Expansion of Higher Education in Brazil: Credentials & Merit

This article tries to outline an exploratory sociological approach to higher education in Brazil. Its specific contribution would be to raise hypotheses to explain some of the social and economic inefficiencies in Brazilian system of higher education. Beginning with the increasing differential returns this level of education, this article explores the case of technologists in order to develop hypothesis on the social meaning of third level schooling. We use studies on the relationship between education and work and two sociological models (meritocratic and credentialist) and the contribution of sociology of professions to comprehend the role of knowledge and social position in determining the returns to education.The domain of academic bias in Brazilian education system seems toorganize social forces that tend to generate some of its inefficiencies. They can appear in inability to adequately qualify to job market or in the production of innovations and patent registration. The most outstanding inefficiency would be that new groups who manage to get college degree are excluded by the devaluation of some titles and by the subordination of certain careers and types of training to the academic model.