Gender perceptions and influencing factors. Evidence in university students from Barcelona (Spain) and Cartagena de Indias (Colombia)

Abstract

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, there has been an important evolution in the thinking and attitudes of women and men towards gender equality. But this evolution has not taken place homogeneously in all areas, including the university, despite being an institution for the generation and transmission of knowledge. Studying the perceptions of current students about gender roles and equality is important to analyze the change in these attitudes. The objective of this work is to explore the factors that can determine the evolution of these perceptions during the university stage. For this purpose, a survey was designed and sent to 716 students from the universities of Barcelona and Cartagena de Indias. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the factors that determine these changes. The results show the importance of training in gender perspective, especially highlighting the relevance of gender mainstreaming. However, differences are observed depending on the socioeconomic context to which each university is assigned. While in Barcelona pre-university training and the transmission of feminist values and movements are relevant; in Cartagena, it should be note the existence of factors related to socialization in egalitarian environments. These results highlight the convenience of introducing gender perspective in curricula and teaching practice.