base of society to ensure that democracy becomes more than a hollow word".
Brazil
ROSEMBERG, Fulvia (1992) Education Democratisation and Inequality in Brazil, in:
STROMQUIST, Nelly (ed) (1992) Women and Education in Latin America.
Knowledge, Power and Change, Lynne Rienner, London, 33-46.
A consequence of powerlessness is not being able to attract research attention to
problems one considers important. In the case of women, many important educational
issues remain understudied. Yet as Rosemberg's study shows, available census data can
be analysed to understand gender conditions. Her study further explores the intersection
between gender and ethnicity, a phenomenon especially relevant in a country such as
Brazil.
Women have been gaining increased access to education in that country, and they now
represent fully half of all students,. Inequalities emerge in years of educational
attainment of men and women, in fields of study pursued by the two genders, and in the
remuneration similar levels of education produce for men and women.
These findings are well known in the context of other countries. Rosemberg's
contribution resides in showing that the gender hierarchy- at least in the Brazilian
context- is subordinate to the race hierarchy. The inferior remuneration of women
versus men is more pronounced than that of blacks versus whites, an intrigue outcome
given the fact that blacks as a group attend poorest schools than whites. Without access
to more direct data, we can only assume that society determines the values regardless of
actual training and that women learn, through schooling and other social experiences,
not to question monetary rewards. That this phenomenon occurs in other countries on
the region is suggested by a study by David Post (1990), which found that girls in Peru
across all social classes expected to earn less than boys. (Stromquist)
VIVEROS, Elena (1992) Vocational Training and Job Opportunities for Women in
Northeast of Brazil, in: STROMQUIST, Nelly (ed) (1992) Women and Education in
Latin America. Knowledge, Power and Change, Lynne Rienner, London, 195-226.
This qualitative study provides a glimpse of the gender construction processes
operating within nonformal education programs. Through interviews with school
personnel and the personal perspectives of four students in a computer programming
course, shows how the program, family messages, and internalised social expectations
combine to reaffirm women in their traditional roles as women and future wives.
Of special interest is how a new field, such computers programming in the context of