Comparative cross-cultural study on the first women engineers in colombia, mexico, and portugal

In this article we present a comparative, cross-cultural study analyzing the context
of the first women engineers in Colombia, Mexico, and Portugal. We aimed to identify
the local characteristics that distinguish them and those they had in common, that
transcend geographical barriers. To do so, we looked at three aspects of their lives:
broader social and academic context (on the level of the community), family
environment and work practice. In so doing, we identify patterns that fit with the
concept of gender norms: systematic barriers to women’s access to spaces traditionally
considered masculine, such as engineering, and even to access to higher education in
general. Changes in the political orientation of governments set the stage for changing
the opportunities for women engineers in the early decades of the twentieth century.
Introduction
In this paper, we offer a cross-cultural comparative study, from the perspective of
cultural history of science and technology, on the first female engineers who
graduated in Colombia, Mexico and Portugal. The historical literature that considers
women’s access to training and work in the field of technology and engineering is
relatively scarce. Where it exists, it is, to a large extent, focused on European and
North American cases. With the objective of enhancing our understanding of
women engineers, this article considers the history of women of other latitudes.
By comparing these cases from three different countries, we can identify the
local characteristics that define the place of women in Colombian, Mexican and
Portuguese societies. In addition, we can see what considerations are common
between the cases and transcend the socio-cultural, economic, and historical contexts
of specific women. Thus this article contributes to the identification of gender norms,
just as they have been identified in other studies from the perspective of feminist
history, mainly in industrialized countries.