“Deixe para os meninos”: Gênero e desistência na ciência e na tecnologia

Abstract

This essay is a reflection upon gender relations and its implications on permanence and dropout rates in Engineering and Technology courses, considering analyses on this issue could contribute to settle educational policies regarding women in technological education spaces. The objective in this research was to understand the subjective path of women’s permanence and giving up on Mechanical and Civil Engineering and in Technology courses, namely Systems for the Internet and Industrial Maintenance, in Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná - UTFPR, on the Guarapuava campus. The research is inscribed within the methodological multidisciplinary theoretic field, featuring the theoretic angle of gender as analytical category. For the data collection there were used themed interviews and questionnaires as procedure, applied to former female students in the Engineering and Technological courses from the University. The data on dropout and grade retention used for the analysis were gathered from accessing the UTFPR Academic Registry System. Results indicate the trajectories of former female students are crossed with gender relations all throughout the academic path until giving in. The choice on graduation course incentivized by family influence, economic issues and by their own motivation. In their permanence, they lived embarrassing situation from so-called jokes related to gender, difficulties related to grade retention in math based classes and emotional illness. Dropping out occurred on diverse reasons, among these, falling ill, homesickness, repeated failing, difficulty adapting to the university. And, even though there is evidence gender relations hindered the interviewed students permanence, there wasn't reporting they dropout on this basis The data still pointed out high figures on grade retention and dropping out in the first three semesters of graduation, shows difficulty adapting to both males and females. Such findings may contribute to rescaling institutional efforts towards teaching methodology, educational support programs, gender discrimination regarding Engineering and Technology.