Cecilia Machado: The ten years of the quota law

In response to the quota law in federal institutions of higher education (IFES), which has just completed ten years, the proportion of enrollments in groups (a) of students from public schools, (b) of blacks, browns and indigenous peoples from public schools and (c) black, brown and low-income indigenous people from public schools increased, respectively, by 10, 7 and 2 percentage points, a variation of 18%, 29% and 34% relative to the average enrollment in each group ( Mello, 2022).

The data undeniably show that the reservation of vacancies has democratized access to free higher education, reducing a little the numerous economic and ethnic-racial inequalities still present in our society.

If, on the one hand, the quota policy was able to promote inclusion and diversity, on the other hand, there are implementation details that can be improved, enhancing its effectiveness for the target audience. I celebrate this decade of achievement by listing five promising directions for quota policy.

1. Allocation of vacancies: each candidate competes for vacancies only in the chosen quota modality. This means that a candidate who is black, low-income, and from a public school participates in only one of the four lists for which he or she qualifies (public school high school; public school high school and black; public school high school and low income; high school education in public schools, black and low income). Combining eligibility criteria, rather than expanding, narrows the set of choices.

In the current model, it is possible for a candidate to be rejected when he chooses a list that considers all his attributes, but accepted when he participates in a list with fewer attributes. Allowing candidates to participate in all lists for which they qualify corrects this distortion (Aygün and Bó, 2021).

2. Commissions for racial heteroidentification: despite the self-declared nature of race/color, several allegations of fraud have led to the creation of commissions in universities to analyze the declaration of candidates. However, the absence of objective and nationally applicable criteria results in lengthy and costly disputes, which add insecurity and uncertainty in the choice of quota candidates. Improve validation mechanisms and encourage self-declaration in accordance with the objectives set by the affirmative action policy.

3. Targeting by income: about 75% of the population meets the criterion of 1.5 minimum wages per capita, showing that this is a comprehensive characterization of low income. Focusing the quota policy on the poorest can increase the representation of the most vulnerable in each group eligible for the quota.

4. Permanence and progression: only 43% of students at IFES concluded their course ten years after joining (Inep, 2022). The progression of students in their courses of choice follows one of the main challenges for the quota policy, especially for low-income students. Combining quota admission criteria with quota holders’ retention policies is important to ensure that access to higher education materializes in a university degree.

5. Longitudinal assessment and access to data: the increase in enrollment is just the first of many effects predicted by the quota policy. Democratizing access to information and allowing the linking of alternative sources of information to Inep’s databases is essential for advancing knowledge about affirmative action policies, understanding the way in which access to higher education expands employment options and professional trajectories of quota holders and what additional policies will be necessary to ensure educational gains are converted into real opportunities.

There are many inequalities in Brazilian society, and fighting poverty and encouraging social mobility will hardly be resolved with a silver bullet. The quota law is just one of the many steps that will be needed to combat our inequalities.