Women in Science and Engineering

In a globalizing world, Mexico’s higher education system is undergoing significant transformations. One of the more hopeful, positive transformations is the emergence or strengthening of gender equity policies in many education institutions. The equity-oriented policies, packaged in transnational policy spheres, are interpreted and set in motion based on the interplay of national, local and institutional contexts. While this emergent equity-friendly policy environment represents a positive movement for equity, its manifestations and effects remain understudied. Considering that there is at least a policy environment supportive of gender equity, this book examines how gender equity plays out at the ground level. It examines the gender-equity policy environment—its manifestation and effects—in one graduate research department in the most prestigious Polytechnic University in Mexico. Through site observations and interviews with students, professors, and administrators, this research illuminates how gender equity is taken up and experienced by women in this male-dominated environment.