Salete Silva Farias

PhD student in Educational Sciences at the Lusófona University of Humanities and Technologies – Lisbon, Portugal. Master in Computer Science – Federal University of Maranhão – UFMA, graduated in Computer Science and Pedagogy (UFMA).

She has experience in Computer Science and Education, working mainly on the following themes: Python, Arduino, Internet of Things, Gender Issues, Free Software and Open Educational Resources.

Currently she is a professor at Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranhão – IFMA, where she teaches Python, Arduino, C Language, Data Structures, Web Languages and Free Software.

Researcher of the Research Group: Applied Computing for Games, Education and Health, she acted as General Coordinator of the E-Tec Brazil Program (IFMA), Coordinator of the Degree Course in Informatics of the Open University (IFMA) and Coordinator of the Technical Course of Informatics.

• Sociology
• Technology
• Programming Languages (Python)
• Arduino
• Internet of Things
• Gender Issues
• Free Software
• Open Educational Resources
• Women and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
• Gender Gap
• Women’s Invisibility in Science
• PISA
• Science Literacy

PhD project

O Impacto dos Estereótipos de Género no Gender Gap em contexto escolar na área STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)

Alcina de Oliveira Martins, Abstract

Abstract

The present study, entitled “The Impact of Gender Stereotypes on Gender Gap and female invisibility in a school context in the STEM area (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at the Federal Institute of Maranhão – São Luís Campus – Monte Castelo”, discusses the way in which gender stereotypes can have a negative impact on the representation of girls and women in these areas, and contribute to their consequent invisibility. Throughout history, women have been relegated to the background, in a world dominated mainly by men. Their invisibility in almost all areas was a reality that took a long time to build. The awakening to the awareness of gender equality gave rise to the struggle of feminist movements, which came to contribute to the understanding of the condition of women in society, taking into account the cultural changes so ingrained in western society. By having the right to vote, with effective insertion in the labor market, access to different levels of education and access to public and political positions, women left the domestic sphere and the activities of caring, gaining a certain social visibility.

Despite the advances, we have reached the 21st century, and in addition to the fact that there are still fewer women in college, in courses in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), their attendance rates are also very low. This gap, presented as a gender gap, also points to the lack of women leaders and mentors in the STEM fields, who could serve as role models. Stereotypes, negative perceptions of girls and women in STEM fields are influencing factors in the individual, social, family, school and peer areas, with low representativeness in textbooks, lack of universal education, lower rewards and low opportunities for remuneration and promotion , among other aspects, including geographical factors, that corroborate this scenario. In this way, they affect to a lesser or greater degree the presence of women in these areas, and the interrelation can generate differences throughout the lives of girls and women, with losses in their academic self-concept.

This study has as starting question: “What factors currently contribute to the complexity and resilience of female underrepresentation in the STEM area, in the educational context or professional choice for girls and women, in the city of S. Luís do Maranhão? As a general objective of the study pointed out: • Analyze the explanatory factors for an accentuated female under-representation, in the STEM area, that reproduces social stereotypes in the city of S. Luís do Maranhão, considering contextual differences, age, socioeconomic aspects, geographics or cultural.

The study is based on a qualitative and quantitative methodology with multimethod models, from different sources and techniques of data collection and analysis. The research was characterized by being descriptive and interpretive, with the phenomenon in context, focusing and analyzing the subjective states of individuals, such as their perceptions and beliefs.

As instruments of data collection, we use focus group, with girls in the first years of high school, aged between 15 and 16 years and STEM undergraduate degree students, enrolled from the fourth semester of the your courses. The interviews will be directed to the course coordinators, to whom the girls and women belong. We use also research by questionnaire, directed to girls and women participating in the study, which allows a more in-depth analysis, with triangulation between data of different natures and sources.