The relationship between ENEM, Higher Education, and cultural capital: from abstract concepts to concrete reality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5212/PraxEduc.v.21.26173.053Abstract
The Brazilian National High School Exam (ENEM) is one of the main assessments in the Brazilian educational field. Since 2009, ENEM has been at the center of educational debate, as examination results have become the primary means of admission to Higher Education, making performance on the exam an indicator of the quality of education. Accordingly, this study aimed to compare the ENEM results of two types of schools: Military Schools within the Brazilian Military School System (SCMB) and Civic-Military Schools, seeking to identify the factor that accounts for the success or failure of these educational institutions in terms of academic performance. To this end, the study draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital as its theoretical framework. For the ten schools analyzed, the mean scores in the four ENEM subject areas were considered: Languages, codes, and related technologies; Human Sciences and related technologies; Natural Sciences and related technologies; and Mathematics and related technologies. The data were extracted from ENEM microdata files made available and accessed through the Protected Data Access Service (SEDAP) of the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP). The findings reinforce Bourdieu’s (1998) thesis regarding the impact of cultural capital in its three forms—embodied, objectified, and institutionalized—as a phenomenon that begins in the abstract, that is, in the realm of ideas, and permeates school practices. The study indicates that limited exposure to valued concepts and forms of conduct, command of the standard language, lack of access to cultural goods, and the absence of family members with Higher Education qualifications or of economic capital within the family influence students’ academic trajectories.
Keywords: ENEM. Cultural capital. Bourdieu.
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