The two institutions propose an entrance-examination preparatory course project with scholarships and practice exams to expand racial diversity among Insper’s Entrance Examination candidates
In 2021, Insper and educational NGO EDUCAFRO begin a new stage in their partnership to expand racial diversity among entrance examination candidates for our school’s Undergraduate Programs. Beginning in February, the initiative seeks to provide resources to the NGO members willing to engage in studies and prepare for admission to Insper.
A pilot project carried out in late 2020 saw the interest of students, which has opened a fertile field to build a meaningful partnership. A new online entrance-examination preparatory course was offered to EDUCAFRO associates anywhere in Brazil from that first experience. It provides dynamic scholarships and monthly practice examinations.
For Ana Carolina Velasco, Institutional Relations Manager at Insper, the partnership with EDUCAFRO was motivated by the organization’s remarkable work with young Black persons searching for higher-education admissions. “EDUCAFRO does an amazing racial inclusion-focused job with young Vestibular candidates. What was born with the promotion of our Scholarship Program is now expanding into a project to encourage more young people to earn a place in the school.”
EDUCAFRO’s Executive Director Friar David also emphasized the project’s positive role in increasing the Black student presence in cutting-edge educational institutions. “Over the past year, we could see that many poor and Black students still do not know Insper. Therefore, we understand that affirmative actions like this are an element that will significantly enrich the experience of all Insper students, professors, and its structure as a whole.”
The Insper Scholarship Program
Insper has a 2004-established Scholarship Program. With the support of an active community, donors, alumni, professors, staff members, and students, it makes it possible for young people with high academic potential to access our higher education programs. It offers opportunities, reduces inequality, and guarantees education of excellence for many young people. Over the past few years, the program has benefited more than 530 young people with some type of scholarship and has graduated more than 270 already.
“We want to encourage EDUCAFRO members who are vestibular candidates to discover Insper’s Scholarship Program, out of knowledge of the correlation between income and race. At times, exceptional candidates end up not encouraging themselves to participate in the selection process because they are unaware of our Scholarship Program. We want to change this reality,” says Ana Carolina Velasco.
For Friar David, the Insper Scholarship Program is one of the biggest attractions for his institution’s associates to engage in the school’s selection process. “From the beginning, we will point out to all our students the opportunities available at Insper, from the Scholarships to the housing and food allowances offered. We will emphasize [Insper’s student hall] Toca da Raposa (“Fox Hole”) as an empowerment strategy, for many of these impoverished young people from the four corners of Brazil cannot afford to live in São Paulo.”
Diversity at Insper
Insper has placed diversity on its strategic agenda for the next ten years. Making the school an open and welcoming space for people is one of our school’s leaders’ priority goals. It involves several fronts such as the Diversity Committee, Scholarship Program, and other projects.
For Tadeu da Ponte, Coordinator of Selection Processes for Insper’s Undergraduate Programs, this partnership represents a new stage in the search for plurality among our entrance examination candidates. He points out that, in the past, a great institutional effort has been made to expand applications from outside Brazil’s south and southeastern axis. “We did a great job of promoting our selection process in regions that previously had few candidates, such as the Brazilian Northeast. We even administered the Vestibular (Brazil’s entrance examination) in this territory. That effort has yielded spectacular results, with a significant increase in applications from those regions”, the coordinator reports. “In this new stage, we want to expand that process to new fronts, increasing the racial diversity of our candidates even more.
“We have a very ambitious project to expand diversity at Insper in all sectors, whether among associates, professors, or students. So, this partnership meets Insper’s strategic planning, offering opportunities for new students and expanding racial and social diversity,” Ana Carolina Velasco explains.
Click here to apply for the selection process for our entrance-examination preparatory course.
