Abstract
This paper discusses the process of training engineers, from observations of a machining course in a Mechanical Engineering program. Data collection and interpretation were subsidized by the history of engineering in Brazil, as well as the sociology of professions. Thus, it was understood how the systematized knowledge of this group is used to indicate internal, hierarchical positions within the profession and in relation to external groups. Data points to a hierarchization based on the opposition between academic training and improvised practices from the factory floor, despite the close relationship of these professionals with such practices. This opposition carries strong, symbolic violence when faced with the gender variable in the process of training these engineers.
ENGINEERING; PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION; SOCIOLOGY; GENDER RELATIONS