Narratives of Women Scholars from Three Generations: New Opportunities and Persistent Barriers to Knowledge Production in Higher Education

• In Event: Research Policies and Practices within Universities: A Latin American Conversation

Abstract

The presence of women in Latin American universities has been growing in the past decades. However, their trajectories differ in pace and directions from their male peers. This paper analyses the narratives of three generation of women scholars in universities and research centers in Peru. The study focuses on women’ trajectories and the opportunities and barriers that shaped them, from the point of view of the participants themselves but situating such narratives in the particular academic context in which they develop. The results show that the presence of women in research and higher education is not enough to guarantee equal treatment. Changes between generations exist, and account for more specialization, higher degrees and delay in motherhood. However, persistent barriers are also there, such as unequal distribution of domestic work, lack of public services for childcare and gender discrimination practices within the academia. Such barriers prevent female talent to contribute to production of knowledge at higher levels. Thus the paper highlight the need of rethinking policies of research and gender that are still starting to emerge in Peru, as well as in other parts of Latin American, to ensure more equal participation in the production of knowledge.

Author

• Patricia Ames, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú