Author Information
Wescley Xavier, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, BrazilJosé Roberto Carvalho Junior, Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil
Ykaru Wagner, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil
Ronald Gonçalves, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil
Abstract
Brazil is characterised by pronounced social inequality, historically marked by discrimination on the grounds of race, class and gender, which restricts equitable social mobility and can partly be explained by the exclusion of poorer segments of the population from higher education. To address these asymmetries, affirmative action policies reserve places for students from public schools. Recent studies analysing the impact of quotas on graduates’ performance have demonstrated the policy's effectiveness in driving social mobility among quota beneficiaries. Nevertheless, certain differences persist, particularly those stemming from families' cultural and economic backgrounds. To bridge these gaps, institutional policies developed within universities, such as extracurricular activities, may serve as an important mechanism for reducing these asymmetries by creating what we refer to here as academic capital. Experiences gained through extracurricular activities — such as research, cultural and sporting activities, student enterprise programme, language courses, student representation and others — can promote significant changes in personal life and social inclusion, especially for students from low-income backgrounds (Carvalho Junior et al., 2024; Winkler & Sriram, 2015). As a result of this process, the formation of academic capital may affect various spheres of a student’s life, including the development of technical skills and competencies, language acquisition, soft skills, and self-esteem. This represents a fertile, still underexplored field in the literature; therefore, in this theoretical essay, we seek to develop the concept of academic capital and propose hypotheses for future research.
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