Beyond the Gender: Choice of Women and Men in Engineering or Degree in UTFPR and UFBA

Abstract:

The objective of this paper is to analyze the discourses of men and women engineering students and degrees at UTFPR and UFBA about the reasons for choosing their undergraduate programs. The study is part of post-doctoral research which investigated, from a perspective of gender, the choice for studying engineering from two universities. The research was divided into two stages, one quantitative and the other qualitative, and the qualitative step being performed from virtual interview. The results point to the fact that there are many factors that interfere in the choices of men and women for choosing their program. Among them, there is the family and former teachers influence, the expectation of salaries and especially their will. The different reasons given by the students of the analyzed courses are not related exclusively to gender. Undergraduate programs characteristics not necessarily associated with gender stereotypes play significant role in these choices.

Key words: Engineering and Undergraduate; Gender Relations; Men and women; UFBA and UTFPR