HIGHER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL CHOICE IN BRAZIL

Abstract

Career choice is a complex phenomenon that involves virtually every individual in contemporary societies, given the centrality of work in the constitution of subjectivity and identity. This essay aims to present the process of career choice, in the Brazilian context, as a socially and culturally constituted phenomenon. Theoretical remarks regarding the notion of profession are presented. The phenomenon of professionalism in Brazil and its relation to the higher education system and the Brazilian social structure itself, both marked by inequality, is analyzed. It is pointed out that career choice is affected by social reproduction, for people with economic and cultural capital are in a more favorable position to mobilize resources for decision-making, while people from unfavorable socioeconomic backgrounds lack the right means to accomplish a self-assured choice.