Nursing students admitted through the affirmative action system display similar performance in professional and academic trajectories to those from the regular path in a public school in Brazil

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 3; p. e0264506
• Main Authors: Biazotto, Marize Lima de Sousa Holanda, Donato Göttems, Leila Bernarda, Bittencourt, Fernanda Viana, de Araújo, Gilson Roberto, Soares Fernandes, Sérgio Eduardo, Lopes Rodrigues, Carlos Manoel, de Assis Rocha Neves, Francisco, Amorim, Fábio Ferreira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 02-03-2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Access to education; Affirmative action; Brazil; Colleges & universities; Education; Education, Nursing; Educational systems; Evaluation; Extension education; Government agencies; Health sciences; Higher education; Humans; Hypotheses; Inequality; Job satisfaction; Medicine and Health Sciences; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing education; Nursing students; Participation; People and Places; Polls & surveys; Practice; Private schools; Professionals; Public administration; Public health; Public participation; Public Policy; Research and Analysis Methods; Retrospective Studies; School attendance; Scientific research; Secondary education; Social classes; Social mobility; Social Sciences; Social systems; Socioeconomic factors; Students; Students, Nursing; Teaching; Training; Upward mobility; Brazil; India
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264506

Affirmative action providing higher education access for socially vulnerable students has been implemented in several countries. However, these policies remain controversial. This study compares the performance of students admitted through the regular path and social quota systems, during and after completion of nursing education, in a public nursing school in Brazil.
This retrospective cohort study included all students admitted to nursing school at the School of Health Sciences (ESCS), Brazil, between 2009 and 2014, who were followed until May 2020. The first phase involved document analysis from the ESCS academic management system and Brazilian government agencies. In the second phase, a survey was conducted among the alumni. The social quota system criterion was public school attendance across all primary and secondary education levels.
Of the 448 students included in the study, 178 (39.7%) were from the affirmative action and 270 (60.3%) from the regular path systems. Affirmative action students were older at the time of nursing school admission (p < 0.001) and took longer to be admitted to the nursing school (p < 0.001) after completing high school. There were no significant differences in the dropout rates and years to complete nursing school. In the second phase, 108 alumni answered the survey. No significant differences were found in their participation in the undergraduate scientific research program and university extension projects, attending residency programs, getting a master's degree and doctoral degree, monthly income, teaching activity, joining public service through a government job competition process, participation in management activities in the private and public health sector, and degree of job satisfaction.
Our results revealed that affirmative action is a policy that contributes to the reduction of inequalities and guarantees the training of nursing professionals with a similar professional qualification received through affirmative action and regular path systems.