Women's absence from the public sphere: Gender inequality in Portuguese architecture schools

Abstract

In Portugal, public university architecture courses have originally been designed by men and for men. The female universe is left out of the curricula and women are kept away from the top positions in the academic hierarchy. Should the presence of women be regulated? Is it possible to change the course of history? The cases of Lisbon, Coimbra, and Porto inform this paper’s discussion, which dwells on the analysis of official statistics on application grades for higher education (1st cycle), number of students placed in higher education (1st cycle), and number of teaching staff in higher education (all university levels). Statistics also inform the discussion of programmes of the most gendered sensitive curricular units, namely History and Theory of Architecture. The postcolonial perspective guided the discussion of findings with reference to how colonial legacies continue to influence educational systems. The headline findings show that, although academia is sensitive to gender equality, there is a gap between what is carried out in the curricula in general and the extracurricular or occasional investigation, and research that is carried out outside universities. These findings nuance knowledge production with implications of social mobilization, and build a case for activist research that promotes gender equity and inclusivity. Recommendations include curricula revision, policy reform, intersectional pedagogical approaches and research practices, institutional commitment, and community engagement.