Revisão de literatura equidade e os desafios vivenciados por mulheres no ensino superior

Abstract

The aim was to conduct a meta-synthesis regarding the challenges experienced by women in their academic trajectories in higher education. Thus, the guidelines proposed by Oliveira et al. (2015) were followed, resulting in the selection of fifteen studies. From the analysis of these, three categories were developed: "Gender Equity in Higher Education and Women's Presence Beyond Traditional Areas," comprising nine articles, aimed to explore the difficulties faced by women seeking to expand their presence in areas historically dominated by men; "University Women: Academic Challenges and Multiple Roles," comprising five articles, with the objective of examining the experiences of university women who juggle multiple roles, such as mothers, professionals, and homemakers; and "Intersectionality and the Academic Difficulties of Black Women," comprising four articles, aimed to explore intersectionality and the specific challenges faced by black women in the academic environment. Each category enabled a unique discussion based on its specific objective and the content presented in the articles that comprised them, and together, they allowed for the identification, discussion, and broadening of understanding regarding equity and the challenges experienced by women in higher education. Such uniqueness is also explained by the way gender is discussed in the studies. In the first category, the focus is on power relations and gender stereotypes; thus, the discussions encompass gender in a traditional and isolated manner, ignoring the intersections of race and class relations. This bias contributes to a deeper and more concrete understanding of the sexual division of labor in the field of science and its implications. In the second category, aspects related to class are added to the gender analysis. Thus, when discussing motherhood and career, more pragmatic aspects emerge, highlighting the lack of social and collective resources capable of addressing the specific obstacles faced by these women, such as the incongruity in the timeframes provided for in the Federal Constitution of 1988 and in educational legislation. In the third category, the complexity of the discussion increases; gender remains prominent, but not in isolation, rather considering it in the intersections of class and race, with particular emphasis on the latter, since the specific objective involves understanding the academic difficulties faced by black women. In addition to the unique contribution of each category, it is worth highlighting the complementarity between them, which also contributes to a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of equity and the challenges experienced by women in higher education.