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Gender, race and their interplay with economic status: intersectionality and asymmetric jeopardies in Brazilian education

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  • Kumar, Sunil Mitra
  • Esposito, Lucio
  • Villaseñor, Adrián
  • Macedo, Sandra

Abstract

A large body of research has illustrated how inequalities in educational achievements globally are rooted in a range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. However, the sources of educational disadvantages are too often considered in isolation, without addressing how they interplay with one another. Building upon the intersectionality and multiple jeopardy frameworks, in this paper we employ a sequential mixed-methods approach to analyse the role played by economic status, gender and race in shaping education attainment in Brazilian high-stakes secondary education exams. Our specific focus is on how economic status, conceptualised as comprising an absolute and a relative facet, interplays with gender and race. Our quantitative analysis reveals that the two components of economic status interplay symmetrically with gender but asymmetrically with race. Gender attainment gaps shrink with higher absolute and relative status. Race attainment gaps also shrink with higher absolute status, but they expand with higher relative status. We use the insights obtained from the literature as well as from our qualitative interviews to situate and explain these findings. Our work improves the understanding of the multifaceted disadvantage experienced by students from underprivileged households in Brazil, highlighting how economic inequality and discrimination hinder educational attainment and jeopardise social mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, Sunil Mitra & Esposito, Lucio & Villaseñor, Adrián & Macedo, Sandra, 2026. "Gender, race and their interplay with economic status: intersectionality and asymmetric jeopardies in Brazilian education," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:199:y:2026:i:c:s0305750x25003183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107232
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