Now it's their time: the presence of women in the public of science museums in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract:

Participation in cities’ sociocultural life encompasses the practices related to the museum-leisure-tourism triad. This article addresses the spontaneous public that visits science museums in Rio de Janeiro and analyzes aspects of female attendance in these places. This research stems from visitors’ studies carried out in science museums and seeks to deepen the discussions from the perspective of leisure. Data analyzed here were obtained in the 2017 edition of the Profile-Opinion questionnaire of the Observatory of Science and Technology Museums and Centers Ten science museums participated, and a probabilistic sampling was performed. The data from 4,606 respondents were systematized and treated statistically. The results express the potential for attractiveness of science museums, in which the prevalence of the “citizen tourist”, who lives and enjoys the city, compared to the “standard tourist” was observed. The results revealed the predominance of female visitors in the science museums investigated, accompanied mainly by friends. However, it was not possible to affirm their protagonism in defining the family’s cultural agenda. It was noted the expansion of the role of science museums as places for leisure and learning and the persistence of gaps in public policies dedicated to make these institutions more inclusive and to consolidate the habit of visiting museums.

Keywords:
science museums; visitors studies; museums and gender; leisure and culture; science communication