Inclusão e desempenho acadêmico: análise dos estudantes com deficiência no ENEM

Abstract

The National High School Exam (ENEM) is a standardized assessment instrument with nationwide coverage, serving as the primary gateway to higher educationandaccess to student financing in Brazil. In this context, the present thesisaimstoinvestigate the influence of socioeconomic and demographic aspectsontheparticipation and academic performance of the School Population with DisabilitiesfromSpecial Education (PEcD_PEE) in the ENEM, considering the temporal evolutionof these factors and the regional diversity of Brazil. A comprehensive analysiswasconducted under the sociological theory of Capitals by Pierre Bourdieu. Microdataprovided by the National Institute for Educational Studies and ResearchAnísioTeixeira were used. The dataset covers five editions of the ENEM(2009, 2019-2022). Additionally, information from the Basic Education School Censuses (2009, 2019-2022)was analyzed. The dataset included variables such as family size, parental education, household income, ownership of domestic goods (e.g., televisions, computers, washing machines, telephones), gender, race/ethnicity, type and location of theschool,and age of participants. The characterization of socioeconomic and demographicprofiles was performed using the Expectation Maximization clusteringmethod. Statistics analyses were performed considering a significance level of 5%: (i) theShapiro-Wilk Test to verify the normality of score distributions; (ii) the Mann-WhitneyUTest to compare score frequency distributions between groups; and (iii) theStudent’sT-Test to identify significant differences in group means. The Principal Component Analysis was applied in order to identify the main axes of variation in theSchool Census data. The results revealed significant differences among students, withregulareducation candidates scoring higher than PEcD_PEE candidates in all Brazilianregions. Regarding gender, men outperform women in Mathematics, whilewomenachieved higher scores in Writing tests across all regions, except the North. Somedemographic aspects, such as older age, negatively impacted candidates' performance. Among PEcD_PEE, the profile of Lower Cultural and EconomicCapital (CCEM) predominated in the North and Northeast regions, while the profileof HigherCultural and Economic Capital (CCEE) was more common in the South andSoutheast.Accessibility resources and services were more available in the South, Southeast, andCenter-West when compared to the North and Northeast regions. Parental educationlevels in the CCEM profile were lower by comparison to the CCEE profile. Blackandpardo women achieved the lowest scores across different ENEMexams. TheCOVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected CCEM-profile students due to limitedaccessto communication technologies (internet, computers, mobile devices). Thestudyhighlights that effectively promoting the inclusion of PEcD_PEErequiresanunderstanding of the socioeconomic and demographic factors, impacting thequalityof life and school inclusion. Moreover, large-scale assessment analyses areessential tools for comprehensive diagnostics aimed at proposing improvements inlivingconditions and inclusive practices within the Brazilian educational system.