MENINAS DIGITAIS NO CERRADO: UM ESTUDO DE CASO SOBRE UM PROJETO DE EMPODERAMENTO FEMININO NA COMPUTAÇÃO DO IF GOIANO – CAMPUS CERES

Abstract

The gender imbalance in Computing is noticeable in different aspects in both academic and professional circles. As a result of this imbalance, there is a disparity in the number of women in Computing. This unequal environment is due, among other things, to the construction of stereotypes about Information Technology professionals. Bearing in mind that the Federal Network of Professional and Technological Education (EPT) in Brazil is made up mainly of Federal Institutes, free and emancipatory training is proposed, which can contribute to the promotion of gender equality. Therefore, the Federal Institutes are seeking this change through projects that emerge in research, teaching and extension, training students not only with qualified content but with an omnilateral education. In addition, by offering integrated secondary education in IT, the EPT Network is helping to encourage girls to take up technology careers from a young age. This case study research aims to investigate the experiences and trajectories of female students who have graduated from the Digital Girls in the Cerrado (Meninas Digitais no Cerrado) project within the scope of the Computing courses at the Instituto Federal Goiano – Campus Ceres. The students took part in the project between 2016 and 2022, all of them former students on technical courses in the area of computer science. Among the various contributions of this research, we highlight the systematic mapping of the literature on female empowerment projects, as well as the preparation of a descriptive memorial that identified the capillarity of the activities carried out by the project. With regard to the participants' experiences, semi-structured interviews were carried out in order to understand the contributions of the Digital Girls in the Cerrado project, using Grounded Theory procedures as the data analysis technique. As a result, contributions were identified in the personal, academic and professional dimensions, going beyond just the school sphere provided by the Federal Institutes. Finally, an educational product in the form of a documentary video was also constructed and validated in order to present the social impacts of the project through the stories of the graduates, thus encouraging the spread of new gender equity initiatives in the EPT Network.