A escola na vida de mulheres jovens e adultas: as motivações para voltar a estudar, os obstáculos enfrentados e o empoderamento feminino

Abstract

This monograph is inserted in the line of research, Education, culture and society, and has as its theme the school in the lives of women in EJA. We know that women students of EJA have their life trajectories marked by exclusion, that in addition to the socioeconomic situation, we have to emphasize the issue of gender and race. With a gender perspective, we realize that many women were forbidden to study in childhood to work in domestic service and help support the family. In relation to the racial issue, it is noticed that the majority of women students of the EJA are black or brown, workers who work in the domestic space: day laborers, maids, nannies and caregivers, and these actions are linked to serving and caring, with this we understand that black women have less access to school and better-paying jobs. In our study, we understand that through insertion in an EJA class, women can have the opportunity to empower themselves through education. Thus, the monograph aims to analyze the role of the school in the lives of EJA women. The specific objectives are the following: To discover the women's motivations for going back to school; Understand the obstacles women face to study; Analyze the possible contributions of EJA for female empowerment. The theoretical basis is the gender studies carried out by the following authors: Bastos and Eiterer (2016, 2017, 2018, 2021), Furlani (2016), Eiterer and Escoura (2014), Godinho (2017), Gomes (2005), Lins, Machado and Escoura (2016), Minayo (2021) and Alves (2021). Methodologically, to achieve these objectives, a qualitative, bibliographical research was carried out based on articles, books and master's and doctoral research on women in EJA in the CAPES and IBICT repositories. The works by Bastos (2011; 2017), Ferreira (2017), Leal (2017), Neres (2020) were selected. The results were organized into three axes according to the specific objectives. As for the obstacles to study, socioeconomic vulnerability was identified as the main factors; work, mainly domestic work, and taking care of the family and the house. Motivations for returning to school are concentrated in the search for better working conditions; further studies (courses, habilitation) and the search for self-esteem, autonomy, sociability and support. In the last axis, we identified contributions to empowerment at work; in the studies; in improving qualities, selfesteem and communication; and in building critical awareness of gender and race.