Track: Women in Industry and Academia

Abstract

Women are often under-represented in academic and professional fields of engineering and natural sciences. Retaining and strengthening them in these postgraduate programs is one of the most effective measures for promoting gender equality in the field. However, there is a lack of studies defining and analyzing the profiles and needs of these women. In 2018, we collected data about 916 women at the best university of South America, through an official request of information followed by an online survey. The results show they are between 21 and 30 years old, single, do not have children, and are strongly dependent on their scholarship income. The desire to become a professor/scientist motivated them to enter the program. The campus of their postgraduate program is not the same where they did their graduations, and their families do not live in the same town of their campus. One-third of them declared they want to have children in the medium-term. It is surprising that 65.12% refused to answer questions about their social status as postgraduate students, despite being informed that the survey was anonymous. This may indicate that being a woman doing a postgraduate program in engineering or sciences is a taboo in Brazil.