Situating women scientists with non-normative gender positions in the Colombian national system of science and technology

Abstract

Gender and science studies in Latin America have questioned the unequal structures of the scientific field in the region using as analytical pivot a particular and homogeneous idea of women scientist as opposed to men scientist. From these analytical approaches aspects such as ethnicity, race and sexuality, which are central to the shaping of the feminine condition as something marginal to the scientific field, have become invisible. In this study we focus on the case of Colombian women scientist whit non-normative gender positions shaped by experiences of racialization such as being black or indigenous, or experiences of minoritization in relation to their sexuality such as being lesbian, with the purpose of analyzing their narratives of self-positioning in relation to the Colombian national system of science and technology. Methodologically these narratives were collected through ethnographic interviews to 19 women scientists from different regions of the country. The results reveal that science and technology fields are gendered in ambiguous ways. The study concludes that these women scientists see themselves as marginal to the structure of prestige that characterizes the system; but they also position their work by acknowledging that their minority marks reshape the scientific ethos through a particular ethics of care.