Student mothers:

the struggle for the right to education

Abstract

Currently, more than half of higher education enrollments in Brazil are made up of female students. This research on Gender and the Right to Education investigated the access and permanence of students in higher education institutions, both public and private, in the city of Joinville/SC. With this, the problem of this research arises, from the perspective of these academics, as women and mothers, the question is what are the challenges for student access and permanence in higher education institutions in Joinville/SC? Are there public policies or institutional actions that support this audience? Based on this issue, the general objective was defined to identify the demands of student mothers and their challenges in accessing and staying in higher education in Joinville/SC. In addition, two specific objectives were established: (1) to encourage the debate on the inclusion of this audience, specifically, in higher education; (2) demand the development of public policies and institutional actions that contribute to guaranteeing the right to higher education for women mothers, thus contributing so that they are not forced to choose between motherhood and academic life. As a basis for theoretical deepening, it was supported by the studies of Sampaio and Urpia (2009), Rosemberg (2001) and Queiroz (2000; 2001) with regard to gender, education and higher education; Davis (2016) and Sarti (1988), on women from a feminist and intersectional perspective, among other authors. Regarding the methodological aspects, a survey was developed, in which an online questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument, via the Google Forms platform, with the participation of 35 student-mothers. Regarding the results, it was identified, among the demands reported by them, difficulties in reconciling work and study; limitations arising from financial conditions; not having someone to leave their children with during class time; being out of school for a long time; in addition to the lack of public and institutional policies that recognize and meet these demands.