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.