Cultural Capital and Professional Earnings of Quota and Non-Quota Students from Brazilian Federal Universities

Objective: compare the levels of cultural capital inherited from the family among quota and non-quota students from Brazilian federal universities and analyze its influence on the occupation and remuneration of graduates. Theoretical framework: the sociological literature points out that students from low-income families (such as quota holders) lack cultural capital inherited from the family and this can negatively affect their opportunities in the job market. Methods: we applied an electronic questionnaire to 11,458 graduates from 248 undergraduate courses and 18 Brazilian federal universities. We created the levels of cultural capital of graduates based on a factor analysis, carried out through a combination of variables such as parents’ education and frequency of consumption of cultural goods by students before entering university. We compared the averages obtained for cultural capital between quota and non-quota students through Student’s t-test, and through multinomial logistic regression, we analyzed the influence of this cultural capital on the occupation and remuneration of graduates. Results: the results suggest that quota student graduates have lower levels of cultural capital before entering the federal university than non-quota student graduates. However, the results suggest little influence of this cultural capital for occupational and salary gains in the labor market. Conclusions: the results highlight the relevance of the quota policy of federal universities for the sociocultural and socioeconomic inclusion of quota students.