A Cohort Analysis of Educational Stratification by Race and Gender in 20th Century Brazil

Leticia J. Marteleto, University of Michigan
Vitor Felipe Miranda, Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional (CEDEPLAR)

During the 20th century there was an overwhelming improvement in Brazilian education. However, the country still presents high educational inequalities. In this paper, we investigate educational stratification by gender and race for cohorts of adults born during the last century. Our goal is to identify how gender and race operate and interact in shaping schooling, using data from 1977-2002 nationally representative household surveys (PNADs). We find that male advantage in schooling was reversed by cohorts born since the 1950s. Female advantage increases within younger cohorts. The schooling gap between whites and non-whites remains. These figures lead to research questions we then address by estimating regression models: Male advantage on schooling was reversed for both whites and non-whites? With the same magnitude? Racial educational inequalities within gender prevailed across cohorts? By addressing these questions, this work contributes for a better understanding of educational patterns of Brazilian cohorts throughout the last century.