National Assessment of Gender and STI in Mexico

Judith Zubieta, IIS-UNAM

Thesis: Education is a key factor

Education is one of the most important variables in the achievement of full participation by women and men in the development of any country.

Since early childhood, socialization and education operate as mechanisms of vocational guidance.

UNAM’s Female students, 1910

Undergraduate carreers

%

Nursing 45%

Teaching * 13%

Music 9%

Medicine 9%

Odonthology 9%

Veterinary 4%

Painting 4%

Law 4%

* Cited as Teachers’ School

UNAM’s Female students, 1939

Undergraduate carreers

%

Teaching * 44

Nursing 34

Music 10

Odonthology 1

Aux. Pharmacist 1

Archeology 1

Chemistry/Pharmacist

1

Painting 1

Medicine 1

History 1

Private Accountant 1

Philosophy 1* Cited as Teachers’ School

Female participation in Undergraduate Studies

Ciencias Agropecuarias

Ciencias de La Salud

Ciencias Naturales y Exactas

Ciencias Sociales y Administrativas

Educación y Humanidades

Ingeniería y Tecnología

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

20111990

Fuente: Anuario Estadístico de Universidades e Institutos Tecnológicos, ANUIES.

Ciencias Agropecuarias

Ciencias de La Salud

Ciencias Naturales y Exactas

Ciencias Sociales y Administrativas

Educación y Humanidades

Ingeniería y Tecnología

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

20111990

Female participation in Graduate Studies

• Social Obstacles: related to educational opportunities; with the conscious or unconscious stereotypes on women's work, with prejudices and perceptions differentiated by sex;

In brief,

• Structural Obstacles: related to institutional "corporate practices" affecting the opportunities for the advancement of women; and

• Normative Obstacles: generated by the lack of rigour in monitoring and enforcing laws; gaps in available information on women’s working conditions; inability to disseminate sex-disaggregated information, lack of adequate policies, etc.

Segregation:

• Vertical.- Hierarchical structures

• Horizontal.- differentials in scientific disciplines

Some explanations:

• Glass ceiling or sticky floors

• Inequity in the access to different opportunities

Public policies in Education, Science,

Technology and Innovation have not yet

considered women’s specific condition and

needs.

Quantity vs. Quality

There is a large discrepancy between the number of women trained and the quality of the jobs they occupy and the functions they performed.

An accepted explanation is expressed in terms of the "time of maturation" of highly trained human resources, but there is also a traditionally overlooked factor: the prevailing culture has not changed significantly..

No less important are the differences that can also be

seen in the perception of the degree of job

satisfaction, wage levels and recognition from

colleagues and society, in general.

Mexico’s National System of ResearchersSNI: Membership distribution by sex, 2013

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

HombresMujeres

Candidato Nivel 1 Nivel 2 Nivel 30%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Hombres 1990Hombres 2012Mujeres 1990Mujeres 2012

SNI: Membership distribution by sex and category, 1990 y 2012

Mexico’s National System of Researchers

Fuente: Conacyt, Informe general del estado de la ciencia y la tecnología, 2012.

Humanidades y Ciencias de la

Conducta

Medicina y Ciencias de la

Salud

Biología y Química

Ciencias Sociales Biotecnología y Ciencias

Agropecuarias

Ingeniería Físico-Matemáticas y

de la Tierra

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Hombres

Mujeres

SNI: Membership distribution by sex and discipline, 2012

Mexico’s National System of Researchers

“Hard data” allow for greater clarity to seriously consider

the problem of gender inequality in Mexico.

The conservative character of Mexican institutions, their

hierarchical systems, and the job evaluation mechanisms

tend to perpetuate certain traits; among them, gender

biases among scholars and colleagues.

Women who reach top positions quickly learn to accept a

type of "invisibility" and a supposed "neutrality",

affecting their self-perception and their degree of

satisfaction.

Some conclusions

It is not just a matter of establishing minimum quotas or parity participations by decree;

Rather, we must create the conditions for equal opportunities considering specific differences between both sexes.

Indeed, there is an urgent need for gender-sensitive public policies in Education, Science, Technology

and Innovation

Some conclusions