EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY IN ATLANTIC DIÁSPORA

Abstract

The aim of this paper is a reflection on the extent to which schooling influence on upward mobility, for Brazilian workers in Portugal. The survey was conducted during the period from June 2003 to January 2006. Adopted as the geographical boundaries of the study area, the districts of Coimbra, Aveiro and Leiria to the development of research. This is because the districts analyzed constituted, in the twentieth century, exits from Portugal to Brazil and currently host areas of many Brazilians. In this path, we identified some children of Portuguese emigrants coming from the district of Coimbra and Porto, with the target to Brazil in the past and that currently return to that region for the development of economic activity. This reinforces the choice of the Central Region, as it is lacking in research on the relationship between schooling and mobility, the migration process, the Brazilians. The reading of classic and contemporary authors, the field research, the qualitative and quantitative assessment and the use of GIS, as a technical resource to move closer to reality, were important for understanding the question. As a result, the survey showed that, at this moment, jobs for migrants are those related to the targeted market to work, particularly in the secondary sector and, not always, the mobility is upward for Brazilian workers with education beyond. Keywords: Education, Brazilian migration, mobility, Portugal, world of work