Outside Options, Higher Education Pathways and Labor Market Returns

• Grant number: 25/04713-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics
• Principal Investigator: Ursula Mattioli Mello
• Grantee: Breno Avidos Pereira Moura
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa (Insper). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/17913-0 - Gender, income and racial inequality in higher education: trajectories, social networks and early labor market outcomes, AP.JP

Abstract

Several recent economics articles study the role of higher education in perpetuating or mitigating inequality across groups and generations. However, many questions remain open and motivate the research agenda outlined in this proposal.The objectives of this project are:(i) to study the determinants of gender, income, and racial inequality in higher education, focusing on students' trajectories after university enrollment and their transition to the labor market;(ii) to understand the heterogeneous role of networks formed during university in job search and early career success, with a focus on elite programs; and(iii) to investigate how the expansion of affirmative action policies benefiting low-income Black students impacts social networks and the behavior of entrepreneurs in society.We will build an original and ambitious dataset, tracking individual trajectories of university students from the beginning of their studies to their early years in the labor market. This project will result in at least three academic publications and a public dataset containing indicators for monitoring and evaluating the Brazilian higher education system.