Brazilian Girls’ Perspectives on STEM Careers

Catarina Sales Oliveira (), Josilene Aires Moreira and Susana Villas Boas
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Catarina Sales Oliveira: Department of Sociology, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
Josilene Aires Moreira: Department of Computer Science, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa 58045-010, Brazil
Susana Villas Boas: Center for Global Studies, Universidade Aberta and CEMRI, 1069-022 Lisbon, Portugal

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-23

Abstract: This research examines the professional aspirations of teenage girls attending secondary school in a Brazilian state and how they perceive potential careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). STEM remains a masculinised field, not only due to the predominance of men but also because of enduring cultural representations that associate it with exceptional academic performance and highly technical competencies. In response, various educational intervention initiatives have sought to challenge these assumptions and promote the inclusion of girls and women in STEM. This article discusses an intervention carried out in four public schools as part of a project led by the Centre for Informatics at the Federal University of Paraíba. The project collected quantitative and qualitative data on subject preferences, professional expectations and perceptions of STEM among teenage girls. A mixed-methods exploratory approach was adopted to analyse the data and therefore to contribute to understand better the specific challenges of implementing such interventions in socioeconomically disadvantaged contexts, which remain underrepresented within the Women in STEM scholarship. The findings illustrate how social and financial constraints shape these young women’s career aspirations, intensifying both the desire for economic stability and the pursuit of personal fulfilment. At the same time, many perceive the future as uncertain and regard STEM as difficult to access, frequently associated with anxiety surrounding core science subjects. This article contributes to ongoing debates on gender and STEM education, offering insights into the Brazilian context and outlining considerations for the development and refinement of future school-based interventions.

Keywords: STEM; educational intervention projects; women and girls; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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