436
C. P. Finatto et al.
However, despite recent research indicating that women have been the majority
at all levels of education in Brazil, including higher education, they receive a lower
remuneration compared to men, even if they perform an identical activity (UNDP
2019).
In the last quarter of 2019, men earned, on average, 22% more than women.
Among workers with higher education, the difference is even greater, reaching 38%.
Between management and executive positions in private companies, the difference
was 29%, totaling only 40% of leadership positions. However, the unemployment
rate among women reached 13.1%, while among men it was 9.2%. This reality also
occurs because women spend 95% more time than men on domestic tasks, sacrificing
their academic and professional lives, often for maternal activity (IBGE 2018b).
Thus, even though there have already been significant cultural changes in society,
especially regarding the way women see themselves and how they are seen, obstacles
remain to achieve gender equality. For example, to be accepted and recognized in
areas where historically men predominate, as in engineering and computing (Lima
2013). In addition, as explained, these obstacles can also be seen in medical areas.
Although women now make up a large portion of the medical student body in industrialized countries, they are still underrepresented in various disciplines and at the
highest levels of medicine. Besides, there are many possible obstacles to career
goals, which presumably act synergistically, which include domestic responsibilities,
rigidity in career structures and discrimination (Bonder 2015).
That said, the low percentage of women in key areas of science is worrying, a
fact that requires initiatives from government, universities and society to minimize
gender inequalities. In this regard, universities can contribute positively (Christie
et al. 2017). Mainly through outreach programs that promote the United Nations
Fourth and Fifth Sustainable Development Goals that involve quality education and
gender equality, respectively.
The concepts of “quality education” (SDG4) and “gender equality” (SDG5) must
be understood as interdependent issues. It is important to avoid considering them
as isolated purposes, as the objectives can and should be interpreted as related to
each other. Therefore, the idea of using university extension projects as a tool for
the massification of quality education and the empowerment of women was adopted
in the guidelines of Brazilian educational institutions. As women still suffer social
inequalities, it is understood that, through education and empowerment, better jobs
and political, economic and social representation can be guaranteed (McMahon 2010;
Psacharopoulos and Patrinos 2018).
In this sense, the concept of “empowerment” of women can be understood as
a definition of the development of their capacities, so that each one of them can,
collectively and/or individually, have social, economic, political and cultural representation, self-sufficiency, and be able to establish their agendas and demands in
society and the State (UNDP 2019). To promote this idea, the United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment—a commitment signed by the
United Nations (UN-WOMEN 2019), with the support of 189 nations—highlighted
equality as a fundamental element for the empowerment of women. The signatory
C. P. Finatto et al.
However, despite recent research indicating that women have been the majority
at all levels of education in Brazil, including higher education, they receive a lower
remuneration compared to men, even if they perform an identical activity (UNDP
2019).
In the last quarter of 2019, men earned, on average, 22% more than women.
Among workers with higher education, the difference is even greater, reaching 38%.
Between management and executive positions in private companies, the difference
was 29%, totaling only 40% of leadership positions. However, the unemployment
rate among women reached 13.1%, while among men it was 9.2%. This reality also
occurs because women spend 95% more time than men on domestic tasks, sacrificing
their academic and professional lives, often for maternal activity (IBGE 2018b).
Thus, even though there have already been significant cultural changes in society,
especially regarding the way women see themselves and how they are seen, obstacles
remain to achieve gender equality. For example, to be accepted and recognized in
areas where historically men predominate, as in engineering and computing (Lima
2013). In addition, as explained, these obstacles can also be seen in medical areas.
Although women now make up a large portion of the medical student body in industrialized countries, they are still underrepresented in various disciplines and at the
highest levels of medicine. Besides, there are many possible obstacles to career
goals, which presumably act synergistically, which include domestic responsibilities,
rigidity in career structures and discrimination (Bonder 2015).
That said, the low percentage of women in key areas of science is worrying, a
fact that requires initiatives from government, universities and society to minimize
gender inequalities. In this regard, universities can contribute positively (Christie
et al. 2017). Mainly through outreach programs that promote the United Nations
Fourth and Fifth Sustainable Development Goals that involve quality education and
gender equality, respectively.
The concepts of “quality education” (SDG4) and “gender equality” (SDG5) must
be understood as interdependent issues. It is important to avoid considering them
as isolated purposes, as the objectives can and should be interpreted as related to
each other. Therefore, the idea of using university extension projects as a tool for
the massification of quality education and the empowerment of women was adopted
in the guidelines of Brazilian educational institutions. As women still suffer social
inequalities, it is understood that, through education and empowerment, better jobs
and political, economic and social representation can be guaranteed (McMahon 2010;
Psacharopoulos and Patrinos 2018).
In this sense, the concept of “empowerment” of women can be understood as
a definition of the development of their capacities, so that each one of them can,
collectively and/or individually, have social, economic, political and cultural representation, self-sufficiency, and be able to establish their agendas and demands in
society and the State (UNDP 2019). To promote this idea, the United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment—a commitment signed by the
United Nations (UN-WOMEN 2019), with the support of 189 nations—highlighted
equality as a fundamental element for the empowerment of women. The signatory