Functional gender optimism in female university students

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological research is to know how the advances in gender equality signify in the lives of bachelor students of Pedagogy, of a University in the State of Chihuahua located in the municipalities of Cuauhtémoc, Nuevo Casas Grandes and Chihuahua. The concern arises around the contrast of international reports about the valuable achievements of women in higher education, opposed to the glass ceiling in the world labor market, consequently, it is relevant to learn from their perspectives on how they experience the University process. The data was collected with the semantic network technique and interpreted through feminist critical sociology, to construct a representative scheme on their self-perceptions and expectations. The interpretation of the results showed a generalized optimism with a two-way causal explanation: on one hand, a criticism of the functional utilitarianism of the patriarchal capitalist system and, on the other, an impetuous origin, typical of youth, as a result of resistance or opposition to the system. Finally, based on the central meanings of the students’ university life, which were optimism, joy, positive attitude, tranquility, acceptance and courage, the category of functional optimism was proposed.