{"id":664135,"date":"2019-04-16T08:20:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T06:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/?post_type=articles&p=664135"},"modified":"2019-07-22T18:32:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T16:32:52","slug":"tabata-amaral-when-youve-experienced-inequality-so-intensely-you-feel-the-urge-to-do-something","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/articles\/tabata-amaral-when-youve-experienced-inequality-so-intensely-you-feel-the-urge-to-do-something\/","title":{"rendered":"Tabata Amaral: \u201cWhen you\u2019ve experienced inequality so intensely, you feel the urge to do something\u201d"},"featured_media":664133,"template":"","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[]},"schools":[29,33,35],"areas":[16,20],"subjects":[],"class_list":["post-664135","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schools-business-school","schools-human-sciences-and-technology","schools-university","areas-competitiveness-growth","areas-human-behavior"],"custom-fields":{"wpcf-article-leadin":["Access to education is one of the pillars of development in any society. However, some countries, including Brazil, still have a long way to go in terms of facilitating access to education beyond the basic level, in particular secondary and higher education. Tabata Amaral is a young congresswoman with Brazil\u2019s Democratic Labor Party. In this conversation with Leonardo Campos, Corporate Account Management Director at IE Business School, Tabata reflects on her experiences as one of the country\u2019s leading education activists."],"wpcf-article-body":["Leonardo Campos:<\/strong> Tabata, it\u2019s a pleasure to have you here at IE Business School. Let\u2019s start by talking about your background, in particular some of the obstacles to education that you faced while growing up. How did you beat the odds?<\/span>\r\n\r\nTabata Amaral:<\/strong> Because of the difficulties I faced\u2014and perhaps even more so, because of the opportunities I had\u2014I was able to see Brazilian inequality from both sides. Thanks to a scholarship, I was able to attend a private school. It was there that someone first asked me what I wanted to do after I graduated, and I realized that I wanted to go to university. Nobody had ever asked me that before, because no one around me had been good enough to finish high school. So that\u2019s how I ended up getting scholarship offers from six American universities and going to Harvard.\r\n\r\nThis shows just how big an impact education can have on a person\u2019s life. But the people around me faced very different realities\u2014not because they didn\u2019t try hard enough, or because they weren\u2019t smart, but because they didn\u2019t have the same opportunities. I lost my father to drug addiction. I\u2019ve lost friends and neighbors to crime and violence. When you\u2019ve experienced inequality so intensely, you feel the urge to do something. That\u2019s why I decided to become an education activist. I realized that if I really wanted to change Brazilian education, I had to change politics as well.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nLeonardo Campos:<\/strong> How would you compare the basic education policies of Brazil, Latin America, and the rest of the world?<\/span>\r\n\r\nTabata Amaral:<\/strong> That\u2019s a tough question. In Brazil, we\u2019ve overcome a lot of difficulties\u2014high inflation, the dictatorship, etc.\u2014and now nearly all Brazilian children attend school. But we are still one of the lowest-ranked countries in education. There are two main reasons for this. First, even though the rate of school attendance is now very high, the quality is still very low and we haven\u2019t invested enough. And second, the Brazilian education system is mainly controlled by governors, mayors, etc. In fact, education is Brazil\u2019s number-one employer. We haven\u2019t had the courage or the political strength to really change our education system, because the population hasn\u2019t demanded it. So we\u2019re trapped where we are, and the people who do have access to quality education need to speak up and say that this is important and worth fighting for.\r\n
I think companies should pressure the government to equip students with the skills they will need in the workforce and take steps to change the public debate.<\/blockquote>\r\nLeonardo Campos:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about new technologies<\/a>, digital transformation, and industry 4.0. Do you think these technological changes are going to facilitate access to basic education, or will they actually widen the gap?<\/span>\r\n\r\nTabata Amaral:<\/strong> Technology<\/a> is a very powerful tool that we can use to bring quality education to more people. There\u2019s one very inspiring case that took place in Amazonas. Some schools in remote parts of the state were so inaccessible that the children would go for months without a teacher. So they set up a satellite system so that the best teachers in Manaus\u2014the capital city\u2014could give classes, with a community teacher on hand to help the students in person.\r\n\r\nBut technology<\/a> alone will not solve all of our problems, and we\u2019re not paying enough attention to how technology is changing the world. If we do nothing, 11 years from now there will be an estimated 2 billion unemployed people without a place in society. I cannot imagine any greater disparity. Technology can be a powerful tool, but if we\u2019re not careful, it will only increase inequality.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nLeonardo Campos:<\/strong> You\u2019ve played leadership roles in civil society through an NGO called Mapa Educa\u00e7\u00e3o\u2014which means \u201cEducation Map\u201d\u2014and now in the public sphere as a congresswoman. How do you think business could play a more active role in providing high-quality basic education?<\/span>\r\n\r\nTabata Amaral:<\/strong> Some people like to point out that education doesn\u2019t increase productivity in Brazil, but this is because the quality of education is what increases productivity. Generally speaking, the business sector has not played an active role in Brazil like it does in other countries. I think companies should pressure the government to equip students with the skills they will need in the workforce and take steps to change the public debate.\r\n
Technology is a very powerful tool that we can use to bring quality education to more people.<\/blockquote>\r\nLeonardo Campos:<\/strong> Finally, as a young woman and leader, what sorts of challenges do you face on a regular basis, and what are your tactics for overcoming them? What would you say to inspire other young women in leadership positions to become agents of change?<\/span>\r\n\r\nTabata Amaral:<\/strong> As soon as I launched my first campaign last year, people started asking me if I was really a candidate and if I had some sort of certificate to prove it. I tried to laugh it off and acknowledge that it\u2019s not very common to see someone like me in the political sphere. I don\u2019t come from the right place, I\u2019m not a man, I\u2019m too young, etc.\u2014but it\u2019s not forbidden for me to be here. It\u2019s not written anywhere that I can\u2019t run for office. We\u2019re doing lots of good things, but every couple of days something will remind me just how odd it is for someone like me to be there.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s not easy. I\u2019ve been called stupid more often in the few weeks since I took office than in my entire life before that. Ultimately, the important thing is to be there. There are a lot of young girls who see me and think that they could do the same thing. To them I would say: Yes, some people think this isn\u2019t the place for us, and it will be hard to win their support. But it\u2019s not written in stone that we can\u2019t do it.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nLeonardo Campos:<\/strong> That\u2019s a beautiful sentiment. Tabata, it has been very inspiring to listen to you. Keep up the good work and keep inspiring people.<\/span>\r\n\r\nTabata Amaral:<\/strong> Thank you so much. Let\u2019s keep doing our part to change the world.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u00a9 IE Insights."],"wpcf-article-extract-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-extract":["Conversation between Leonardo Campos<\/strong> and Tabata Amaral<\/strong>.\u00a0Access to education is one of the pillars of development in any society. However, some countries, including Brazil, still have a long way to go in terms of facilitating access to education beyond the basic level, in particular secondary and higher education."],"wpcf-article-summary-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-summary":["When it comes to guaranteeing universal access to education, many countries still have a long road ahead. Education helps new generations gain access to new, more highly skilled jobs and evolve in tandem with society. In Brazil, school attendance rates have increased significantly in recent years, but there is still much work to do. In this conversation, Tabata Amaral, a young congresswoman with Brazil\u2019s Democratic Labor Party and one of the country\u2019s leading education activists, talks with Leonardo Campos, Corporate Account Management Director at IE Business School, about Brazil\u2019s many challenges on this front and the struggle to offer access to education beyond the basic level."]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/664135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"schools","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/schools?post=664135"},{"taxonomy":"areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/areas?post=664135"},{"taxonomy":"subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subjects?post=664135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}