O problema da atratividade das STEM para as mulheres

: como podem as empresas inverter esta tendência?

Abstract

The growing concern with gender equality and the emergence of technology associated with the emergence of a high number of jobs in the designated STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), raised a new concern for society, including for the business sector: the low incidence of women in these fields. The main objective of this work is, therefore, to analyse the role of companies in relation to the reduced participation of women in STEM areas, which involves identifying the efforts that have been made to reverse this trend, namely in the Portuguese context. For this purpose, three Portuguese companies that fit into the field of STEM and have gender equality practices were studied, with an analysis of the specific actions that they have been developing to change the before mentioned trend. Interviews were conducted in each of the companies and questionnaires were also applied to the employees of one of them. The analysis reveals that, in fact, this is a concern for the companies studied, which have already established objectives and measures for gender equality, as well as to increase the attractiveness of the STEM fields for girls and women. Even so, the conclusion is that there are still obstacles to the professional career of women and bias regarding the presence of women in STEM, so it is important that companies continue to develop actions to achieve the goal of promoting women’s participation in the field.

Date of Award	13 Jul 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Liliana Fernandes (Supervisor)