VARIABLES THAT INFLUENCED CANDIDATES' PERFORMANCE IN THE ENEM MATHEMATICS AND ITS TECHNOLOGIES: A STUDY WITH CANDIDATES WHO TOOK THE EXAM IN BARRA DO CORDA, MARANHÃO, IN 2021

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to analyze the key variables that impacted the performance of candidates in the National High School Exam (ENEM), specifically in the field of Mathematics and its technologies, who took the examination in Barra do Corda, Maranhão, in the year 2021. ENEM, one of the main national entrance exams, represents not only one of the fundamental pathways to access higher education in public institutions but also in private institutions. The data used in this study were obtained from the microdata of ENEM for the year 2021, which were made available by the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep). In this database, it is possible to access information related to cultural, socioeconomic, and performance elements of the students who took the ENEM, thus allowing the characterization of the profiles of the candidates according to their achieved performance. To reach such conclusions, the application of a multiple regression model was used, estimated through Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). From this study, it was possible to outline the profile of participants who achieved the best performance in the exact sciences assessment. The results revealed that the level of parents' education, self-declared ethnic-racial identity of students as white, and the availability of internet access in the residential environment positively influenced the candidates' performance in the area of Mathematics and its Technologies. On the other hand, it was found that participants who were currently or had previously been engaged in paid activities, as well as the variable of age, had a negative influence on their performance.