“Technology is feminine!”: motivations for women’s enrollment and attrition in IT courses, Belém-PA, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Nazareth dos Santos Andrade, Juliana
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Pantoja Baena, Breno Augusto, Souza Lobato, Flavio Henrique
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Diversitas Journal
• Texto Completo: https://diversitasjournal.com.br/diversitas_journal/article/view/2595
• topic: Tecnologia da Informação; Mulheres; Ingresso; Evasão; Belém (PA)

This study aimed to identify the possible causes of the low number of women in Information Technology (IT) and computer courses in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) located in Belém and the Metropolitan Region (PA). The research was conducted through an online questionnaire administered to 47 women who were students or graduates of IT courses in the region. The study identified issues related to sexism, sexual harassment, prejudice, discrimination, and questioning of female cognitive ability or intellectual capacity as reasons why these women dropped out or quit IT or computer courses. Many participants revealed feeling isolated due to the low number of women in the course, as well as uncomfortable with "jokes" made by professors and classmates, and subjected to prejudice as women in a predominantly male course, sometimes even having their sexual orientation questioned. In light of these findings, it is understood that representation is a fundamental element for overcoming stereotypes and paradigms, and for encouraging girls to pursue careers in these fields. It demonstrates that women are capable of performing manual tasks, solving complex mathematical equations, and addressing operational problems within corporations.