📍 My first Dev Community post – by a Brazilian professor and researcher
Hi everyone! I'm thrilled to share my first post here with a topic that’s very close to my heart: gender inequality in tech education.
In our latest research, “Overcoming Obstacles: Challenges of Gender Inequality in Undergraduate ICT Programs”, my colleagues and I explored the experiences of 402 women students from 18 Brazilian states who are enrolled in undergraduate ICT courses. Despite the growing demand for tech professionals, only about 16% of ICT students in Brazil are women, and our study dives deep into why that is.
🔍 What we found:
- Many participants reported feeling underestimated or interrupted by peers and professors, especially in male-dominated classrooms.
- Gender stereotypes and the lack of role models severely impacted their confidence and participation.
- Challenges go beyond academics—students mentioned dealing with domestic burdens, harassment, and social expectations that question their place in tech.
- However, students also pointed out strategies that helped them persist, such as mentorship programs, support groups, and greater visibility of women professors.
📌 We believe that listening to women’s voices is the first step to building more inclusive and equitable ICT programs—and that research like this can help institutions shape better policies and practices.
🧩 This work was presented at the 6th ACM/IEEE Workshop on Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering (GE), 2025.
📄 Here’s the full paper if you’d like to explore the data, results, and recommendations in detail.
💬 I’d love to hear your thoughts. How is your university or company addressing gender inequality in tech? Are there similar challenges in your country?
