The role of women in Brazilian ethnobiology: challenges and perspectives

Abstract

Background The article aims to analyze the representativeness of women in ethnobiological publications within the Brazilian context, as well as to relate the difficulties faced by women in their scientific careers in terms of gender bias. Biases found in publications are relevant themes to different areas of knowledge, considering the historical persistence of male privilege in these activities. We analyzed the role of women in ethnobiological scientific publications and sought to reflect on gender issues in academic practices and fieldwork. Methods We conducted a 28-year survey of academic publications in Brazil, through the Scopus and Web of Science databases, in order to infer the female representation in ethnobiological literature. We also sent 77 questionnaires to ethnobiologists associated with the Brazilian society of ethnobiology and ethnoecology or indicted by associates through snowball sampling. Results We observed that there are more articles where the senior author is male ( p < 0.05). However, there are no differences in the number of publications led by men and women ( p > 0.05), which shows a positive trend in terms of representation. Within subareas, ethnozoology had more male authors than other subareas of ethnobiology. Articles whose senior authors are men tend to be published in journals with a higher impact ( p < 0.05). The interviews with Brazilian ethnobiologists showed that 53.2% of the interviewees reported feeling discriminated against in the academic environment because they were women. Moreover, 61.0% said they had disadvantages in collecting data because they were women. Additionally, most of the researchers reported having witnessed cases of sexism in the studied communities. Conclusion In the current scenarios of female participation, it is possible to reflect and identify advances and challenges associated with gender bias in ethnobiological studies conducted by Brazilian, both in the emic and etic spheres of research and in our scientific practice. As researchers in the area, we deal directly with social problems in the studied communities, such as violence against women, sexism, and prejudice, as well as the many problems faced in the academic universe itself.

Gender and ethnic equity: what can we learn from ancestral and indigenous peoples to deal with socio-environmental issues?

“…In this essay, our starting points are Eisler's (1987) and Maturana's (2004) discussions on equitable societies, contributions from feminist studies (Gaard 2011;Federici 2017;Ribeiro 2019) and the current debate on the fifth phase of ethnobiology (Wyndham et al 2011, Wolverton 2013. We also base our arguments on the debates about the gender issues in archaeology (Jácome and Furquin 2019), anthropology (Rosaldo and Lamphere 1974) Silva et al 2019). Based on these starting points we identified other literature that addresses and broadens the discussions on the transformations of human societies and provided insights to discuss the changes in values we now need, focusing on equity -from gender to ethnic (Saini 2017;Baldauf 2019;CIMI 2019).…”

“…In the context of research on traditional and local knowledge, the gender approach is not a new subject, however, for a long time gender has been used only as another factor that influences these knowledges (Pfeiffer and Butz 2005), without generating an empowering discussion for Indigenous women (McGregor 2005). For the ethnobiological research in Brazil, Silva et al (2019) analyzed the gender asymmetry and showed that the disparity does not appear in the number of publications between men and women, but in the greater presence of male as senior researchers, who are in the coordination (power) of research groups. Furthermore, most of the female researchers felt discriminated against in the academic environment due to their gender.…”

Pesquisadora, Etnobióloga, Líder Comunitária, Geraizeira: Reflexões Sobre as Dificuldades Encontradas Por Duas Mulheres Em Suas Atuações Em Campo

“…Ao conversar com outras colegas pesquisadoras, percebi que o medo do assédio em campo não era algo tão raro assim. Uma pesquisa realizada com mulheres etnobiólogas a respeito da representatividade feminina na academia revelou que 62,3% das entrevistadas já se sentiram prejudicadas durante seu trabalho de campo pelo fato de serem mulheres (SILVA et al, 2019). Entre as principais desvantagens enfrentadas pelas entrevistadas estão: dificuldade de acesso à informação e às pessoas, desvalorização, assédio e fatores estes relacionados à falta de confiança dos participantes da pesquisa em fornecer informações às mulheres.…”

“…Entre as principais desvantagens enfrentadas pelas entrevistadas estão: dificuldade de acesso à informação e às pessoas, desvalorização, assédio e fatores estes relacionados à falta de confiança dos participantes da pesquisa em fornecer informações às mulheres. De acordo com Silva et al, (2019), tais fatores podem estar associados ao patriarcado e ao sexismo recorrentes nas comunidades visitadas pelas pesquisadoras entrevistadas.…”

“…A literatura científica a respeito das diferenças de gênero e das dificuldades enfrentadas por mulheres em suas atuações em campo aponta diversas dificuldades que incluem assédios, falta de segurança, falta de confiança do participante em transmitir informações, dificuldades em assumir cargos de liderança, entre outras (MORENO, 1995;BERRY et al, 2017;FREITAS et al, 2017;SILVA et al, 2019). Essas situações são pouco exploradas pela academia, pelos movimentos camponeses e por movimentos relacionados aos povos e comunidades tradicionais.…”