The number of university students over 40 in Brazil is increasing, but there is prejudice

By Italo Lo Re

The number of students aged 40 or more entering Brazilian universities has almost tripled in the last ten years, between 2012 and 2021, according to data from the Census of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education (MEC).

The increase, 171.1%, was much higher than the variation in the total number of entrants: 43.1%.

Among the causes, specialists point out, mainly the expansion of distance learning courses (DL) and the economic crisis, which forced many to recalculate their route in the job market.

In recent days, the case of a 44-year-old student who was the target of ageism in a video recorded by three colleagues has resonated.

“She was supposed to be retired. Guys, 40 years old can’t do college anymore,” said one student.

Initially posted to a restricted group on Instagram, the material generated outrage when it was shared on other social networks.

The victim, Patricia Linares, is a Biomedicine student at Unisagrado, a private college in Bauru, in the interior of São Paulo.

Last year, 599,977 students aged 40 and older entered college in Brazil, almost three times more than ten years ago (221,337).

The share of this age group has practically doubled: from 8% to 15.2% in the period.

The total number of entrants also increased, but in a much smaller proportion: it went from 2.757 million in 2012 to 3.945 million in the most recent period.

“This growth of students over 40 years old was mainly due to (the advancement of) distance learning, especially in private universities,” said Mozart Ramos, a researcher at the University of São Paulo (USP).

Last year, six out of every ten students entering higher education entered the so-called distance learning courses.

According to Ramos, this change in the teaching model has directly altered the profile of the students.

“The distance learning student is usually an older student already working. Therefore, it is a more feasible way to reconcile study and work,” said the researcher.

But this is not the only point that justifies the increase in age groups over 40.

Another reason, Ramos continues, is the economic crisis that hit the country in recent years and raised unemployment rates.

“With the pandemic, many people lost jobs or income,” he said.

According to him, this increased the dropout of those who could no longer afford college tuition but also pushed students into classrooms in hopes of relocation.

IN SEARCH FOR APPROVAL, SHE HAD TO FACE PREJUDICE

Age was not an obstacle for Janecleia Sueli Maria Martins, 49, to be approved in the Medicine course at Bahia State University (UNEB) in Salvador. The motivation to enter the course came after her grandmother’s death, who went through a difficult process with cancer.

That day, Jane, as she is known, gained a new purpose.

“I used to say that I would be a doctor to cure people with this disease,” she said.

However, until her dream came true, it wasn’t easy.

Being from a humble family, Janecleia married when she was still a minor and had two children.

Only after she was 16 did she look for scholarships in preparatory courses.

To support the household, Jane worked several jobs: from selling lunch boxes to working as a market attendant.

Today she is an ironer, her last job.

“I used to arrive home at 10:30 pm, take a shower, have dinner, and take a 15-minute break to go back to study because the next day I didn’t have time to review the material,” she says.

In her quest for approval, Janecleia faced prejudice around her.

“In the preparatory course, the other students asked if I was the teacher, why I wasn’t working, and that the Medical course was not for me.

Aside from the jokes in the classroom, she also heard that she was too old in her daily life.

“Old donkeys can’t learn anymore. You are already at the end of your life; what will you graduate for? To graduate one day and die the next?” recalled Jane, who never let herself be affected.

After much persistence, Jane’s approval came in February this year.

“My friend said: ‘You were approved, girl,’ I was so nervous that I couldn’t even open the college website to see the results.”

At 62 years old, systems analyst Vinicius Lanzoni Gomes is one of the youngest freshmen in Sports Science at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Limeira, São Paulo.

A sportsman for over 40 years, taking the course is a dream reborn in the last years, as he was getting closer to retirement from work.

“I had nurtured it for a long time, but it wasn’t a priority. I gave priority to graduating my children as well, to invest in them. Today they are both graduated, one in Medicine and the other in Law,” said Vinicius, who lives in Jacareí, in the Paraíba Valley.

With “mission accomplished”, he attended the Poliedro course all last year to prepare for the vestibular (Brazilian college entrance exam).

Now he is starting a new phase – at first, he will drive to Limeira by car, but with the perspective of even moving to the city as he gets more subjects in college.

“My gain was not only the approval but having the pleasure of studying again,” said
Vinicius.

With information from Estadão