The Interplay Between Work and School Outcomes Among Adolescents in Brazil: The Role of Prior Orientations and Aspirations

In Brazil and other developing countries, empirical evidences usually suggest that the participation of children and adolescents in the labor market tends to hinder educational outcomes (academic performance, high school graduation and dropout, etc.) and, therefore, lead to inequalities in educational and occupational status over the life-course. However, a body of research argues that the interplay between work and school: 1) depends on the intensity (hours) of work; moderate work (less than 20 hours a week) can actually help the student to acquire professional and soft (sense of responsibility, independence and self-improvement) skills; 2) is the result of spurious relations the negative effect of work on school success is actually result of differences in preexisting individual orientations and aspirations that make some students more inclined to pursue experience in the labor market than invest in school. This paper aims to analyze, first, the extent to which preexisting aspirations and orientations toward school and work can account for the observed negative effect of work on school performance in Brazil. Second, it examines, among workers, how work intensity is related to these outcomes. In order to achieve these goals, we draw upon data from the National High School Exit Exam (ENEM) and from the Minas Gerais State Household Sample Survey (PAD-MG). These data sets combine information on school outcomes, family background, demographics, labor market situation, and orientations toward school and work. Results show that prior orientations and aspirations can predict actual labor market behavior and school outcomes, and account for part of the effect usually credited to work itself. Research on this issue in developing countries would benefit from incorporating fundaments from social psychology to understand how inequalities are reproduced through orientations and aspirations.