Maternity and University

Challenges and achievements of student mothers in higher education

Abstract

In Brazil, the university space has historically been structured to meet the demands of a specific, predominantly male audience, excluding or limiting the presence of women. With the democratization of access to university, women have overcome this historical barrier. However, recent research reveals that, despite overcoming the initial barriers to women's access to higher education, the absence of affirmative action policies that recognize motherhood and its specificities —physical and social— perpetuate subtle forms of exclusion of these “non-traditional students” within the university. A study conducted with university mothers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro revealed the complex relationship between motherhood and university, highlighting how these students face challenges linked to stereotypes and social norms about the role of mothers. The research exposes how the reproduction of symbolic violence impacts the dynamics of permanence and the processes of “affiliation” of university mothers, exposing the urgency of a broad debate on the importance of recognizing these subjects through affirmative action policies.