Diversity and gender equity in Higher Education can be influenced by those who hold leadership positions in academic administration. We conducted a research study to investigate gender disparities and the academic background of the individuals holding the top three hierarchy positions in the academic administration of Brazilian federal universities. The exploratory research took place in the second semester of 2023, during which we used a gray literature review with consultation on the government website (Fala.Br) for access to information. Through data collection, we identified the gender distribution in academic administrative positions and examined the gender distribution and the academic background in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). We then analyzed the proportion of academic administrative positions occupied by women with STEM and non-STEM backgrounds. Our analysis showed that women occupy the lowest percentage in academic administrative positions. In the analysis of female academic background, the lowest proportion of occupancy is attributed to women in STEM. The results of this study highlight the need to create strategies to promote female academic administrative leadership and provide valuable information for researchers committed to reducing gender inequalities, especially in STEM fields.
Authors:
Leihge Roselle Rondon Pereira, Silvia Diamantino Ferreira De Lima, Cristiano Maciel & Indira R. Guzman
Language:
English 
References (APA):
Pereira, L. R. R., Lima, S. D. F. D., Maciel, C., & Guzman, I. R. (2024). Equity in focus: A study of female representation in the context of academic administration and STEM of federal universities in Brazil. In Proceedings of the 2024 Computers and People Research Conference (SIGMIS-CPR ’24) (Article 14, pp. 1–8). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3632634.3655858