Vivências de mulheres docentes na área de Matemática: um estudo a partir de três instituições de Ensino Superior de uma cidade do Triângulo Mineiro

Abstract

This research aims to understand how gender issues impact the work and career trajectories of female professors in the field of Mathematics in Higher Education, across three higher education institutions in a city in the Triângulo Mineiro region, Brazil. The study is grounded in the recognition that Mathematics carries a historically constructed image as a male-dominated field, whose presumed neutrality, when closely examined, reveals mechanisms of exclusion, naturalization of inequalities, and the erasure of women’s presence. This scenario is not merely symbolic, as national data indicate that women represent only 26% of entrants in STEM programs in Brazil, and that this proportion progressively decreases at higher levels of the academic career. This qualitative study was conducted in three higher education institutions within the same municipality: a federal university, a private university, and a federal institute, selected due to their diverse organizational structures and regional roles. The guiding research question was: how do female Mathematics professors in these institutions recognize the influence of gender on their careers and lived experiences? Data production occurred in two complementary stages. First, a questionnaire was administered via Google Forms to 23 identified female professors across the three institutions, yielding 10 responses that allowed for an initial group profile. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five of these participants. The narratives revealed that belonging to the field of Mathematics requires women to constantly prove their legitimacy, a demand rarely imposed on men. Forms of exclusion are mostly subtle, including invisibility in meetings alongside male colleagues, isolation in informal institutional spaces, the devaluation of Mathematics Education as a lower-prestige subfield, and the disproportionate burden of care responsibilities, which conflicts with the expectation of total dedication to academic work. At the same time, the narratives highlight concrete forms of resistance, such as mentorship programs for girls, initiatives to increase the visibility of women’s trajectories, and the everyday presence of these women in such spaces as a political act. The final considerations point to the urgency of institutional transformations that go beyond formal access, recognizing that opening doors is insufficient if internal environments remain structured to accommodate only certain bodies and trajectories. The study concludes by affirming the plural nature of women’s experiences in Mathematics, intersected by race, class, motherhood, and gender identity, and calls for further research committed to a more equitable model of university teaching.