THE ACCESS OF STUDENT WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION: MICRODATA ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL EXAMINATION

Abstract

The Brazilian National High School Examination (Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio – ENEM) is the main instrument of access to the Brazilian Higher Education, and its results are also used by public policies for state-subsidized places. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the access to Higher Education of students with visual impairments, investigating factors related to academic performance in the large-scale assessment of ENEM, through the analysis of ENEM microdata from the 2017 and 2018 editions. Based on the exploratory research methodology, with a quantitative approach, this study investigated the participation, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and the performance of people with visual impairments (PwVi) in the exam compared to participants without disabilities, in order to identify vulnerabilities in the access of PwVi to Higher Education. The results showed the low participation of PwVi in the exam, in addition to the fact that they have lower family income, older age, less female participation and less concentration in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil in relation to participants without disabilities. The performance analysis points out that PwVi had similar results to people without disabilities, thus demystifying the concept of disability related to people with disability. However, the results varied according to the severity of the disability, signaling possible accessibility issues in the exam, thus jeopardizing participants with more severe visual impairment. It was concluded that the education policies of access to Higher Education, which use the ENEM score, do not apply to part of this population, excluded from the benefits of Higher Education subsidized by the State.