Gender perspective education policies in Michelle Bachelet and Dilma Rousseff's governments

Abstract

In recent decades, gender inequalities have been recognized as a social problem to be addressed by national governments through gender-responsive public policies across all state sectors. This study aims to analyze educational policies from the gender perspective supported by the government of Michelle Bachelet and Dilma Rousseff in Chile and Brazil, respectively, identifying advances, specificities, challenges and political disputes featured in the emergence of reactionary and conservative actors. This is a comparative research of qualitative character, whose data are collected through documentary research and interviews with former ministers and members of Feminist NGOs. The data was analyzed using feminist theory as regards gender and public policy. Results indicate that the specificities of both public agenda disputes and implemented policies are directly linked to the cultural, political and social contexts of these countries.