摘要：This article shows evidence regarding the educational attainment and inequality
of educational opportunities in Brazil based on the grade progression probability
method (GPP) between the years 1981 and 2008. We describe some stylised facts
about the educational trajectory in Brazil, then we test two hypothesis suggested
by Mare (1979, 1980). The first hypothesis states that the effect of social origins
decreases along the educational trajectory. The second states that the educational
expansion between two periods would reduce the inequality of educational
opportunities in a given grade. Results show an increase in grade probability in
nearly all grades, but this trend is most striking in the earlier stages. Educational
stratification results show that Mare’s first hypothesis could not be corroborated.
The second hypothesis was partly confirmed. We found a decline during the
period analysed on the effect of household head’s education on grade progression
at the earlier transitions. Furthermore, the selectivity pattern seemed to be
transferred to later grade transitions.
