Desempenho dos estudantes no Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM): uma análise a partir da Função de Produção Educacional

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the contribution of inputs from the educational production function to the academic performance of students in the National High School Exam (Enem). The study brings the thesis that both physical capital resources and human capital resources are determinants of academic performance, however, that human capital resources are specifically more relevant to student performance. Data Envelopment Analysis focused on the product (DEA) with variable returns to scale was used as a methodology to determine the efficiency of Federal Institutes (IFs). Descriptive statistics were applied, and the model called general DEA was also used with the inputs of human capital, physical capital and socioeconomic level of students and as a product the Enem grades. Furthermore, the model called spatial DEA was used, added to regional indicators considering the States level. The analysis covered Enem data from 2019 and included a sample of 460 campuses of Federal Institutes distributed across all units of the federation. The results allowed us to identify that there is a difference in the distribution of human capital resources, with the North region having the lowest level of qualifications and teaching experience, followed by the Northeast region with the second lowest level of qualifications. Furthermore, both regions had the lowest socioeconomic levels in relation to students. Despite this, the North and Northeast regions stand out for the greater relative number of efficient units. With the overall DEA model analysis, only a third of IFs achieved efficiency. With the inclusion of variables at the state level, spatial DEA model, the number of efficient IFs increased to 54.78%, indicating that the effect of the regional context impacts on IFs in order to make them more efficient while changing the utilization of its inputs. This effect reveals that, in the composition of the educational production function, not only inputs at the level of educational institutions and at the level of students must be considered, but, above all, regional differences at the level of states. Additionally, it was possible to identify that inefficient IFs present gaps in all inputs, however, more significantly for the general infrastructure and titling indicators, showing that these inputs are not being used in order to increase performance. As a result, the research allowed us to conclude that there is no way to determine whether human capital is more relevant than physical capital in explaining performance, because both inputs contribute to both the efficiency and inefficiency of IFs when they are not used in their full capacity.