A elite da elite na ciência brasileira: gênero, classe e trajetórias de mulheres na tecnologia industrial dos anos 1950

Abstract

This article examines the entry of women into the field of industrial technology in Brazil during the 1950s, focusing on the city of Rio de Janeiro, based on data from a survey published by Capes in 1957. Through a prosopographical approach, 50 women working in public research institutions, such as the National Institute of Technology (INT) and the National Laboratory of Analysis (LNA), were analyzed. The research identified a subset of 12 women who received grants from CNPq, constituting an “elite of the elite” within the scientific community. The analysis revealed that most were trained in Chemistry, with stable institutional ties and participation in courses and projects strategic to the developmentalist agenda of the time. Social origin emerged as a fundamental variable: many were daughters of European immigrants, white, and belonging to the urban middle class, which facilitated their access to higher education. The trajectories of these women were shaped by gender norms that imposed reconciliations between scientific work, historical records. The article contributes to understanding gender, race, and class inequalities in Brazilian science by demonstrating that women's access to scientific research, even when institutionalized, was conditioned by social filters that limited their possibilities for advancement and recognition, reinforcing hierarchies structured by race, class, and social capital within the female scientific community itself.