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.

OBJECTIVES: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.

Comparison Between Students Admitted Through Regular Path and Affirmative Action Systems in a Brazilian Public Medical School.

Purpose: Affirmative action policies to provide access to higher education for socially vulnerable students have been implemented in several countries and have faced many questions nowadays. The aim of the study was to compare the socioeconomic background and performance during and after completing the undergraduate course of students admitted through the regular path and social quota systems in a public medical school in Brazil. Methods: A retrospective cohort study including students admitted to a medical school within the School of Health Sciences (ESCS), in Brazil, between 2005 and 2012, and followed until May 2020. In the first phase, data collection was performed by analyzing documents from the ESCS academic management system and Brazilian government agencies. In the second phase, a survey with 12 questions was sent to the medical school alumni. The social quota system criteria were the public school attendance in all primary and secondary education levels. Results: Among 707 students, 204 (28.9%) were from the social quota and 503 (78.5%) from the regular path system. The place of residence of social quota students had a lower Human Development Index (p < 0.001) and per capita income (p < 0.001) when compared to regular path students. Regular path students were associated with the highest dropout from medical school (OR: 50.552, 95% CI: 12.438-205.453, p < 0.001). There was no difference between regular path and social quota students attending medical residency programs (OR: 1.780, 95% CI: 0.957-3.309, p = 0.069). Out of the 308 alumni who completed the survey, regular path students had more family members who were health professionals than social quota students (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences regarding monthly income, job satisfaction, employment, or management activities. Conclusion: Affirmative action targeted students with a disadvantaged socioeconomic background. Regular path students had a higher dropout rate than social quota students.