Responsabilização e recursos no trabalho acadêmico: condições para a saúde mental e a permanência de mulheres em áreas STEM

Abstract

In the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), adverse working conditions intersect with gender inequalities that restrict women’s access to recognition, opportunities, and the resources necessary for career retention. Nevertheless, research on gender inequalities in STEM and psychological distress in academia has developed largely in parallel, and their intersection remains underexplored, particularly in Latin America. Organized as a collection of two articles, the first article of this dissertation investigated factors associated with psychological distress and strategies to address them through a scoping review guided by the JBI and PRISMA-ScR, with searches conducted across eight databases between 2015 and 2025, resulting in 23 studies. The review identified structural and career-related factors and relational and intersectional factors, as well as a scarcity of intervention evaluations. The second article investigated how gender inequalities and working conditions are associated with mental health and career retention through an instrumental mixed-methods case study, predominantly qualitative, conducted with 13 women faculty members in STEM at a Brazilian public university. Data were generated through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and post-interview records and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Reflexive Thematic Analysis, informed by Gendered Organizations Theory, Social Role Theory, and Conservation of Resources Theory, with intersectionality serving as an analytical lens. The study indicated that work organization, recognition and belonging dynamics, and unequal resource distribution contribute to psychological strain, while responsibility for coping with this strain is individualized, and these findings informed the development of a multilevel shared responsibility framework. The findings indicate that the mental health and career retention of women academics in STEM are shaped by the conditions under which academic work is organized, while responsibility for sustaining mental health and retention remains individualized, reinforcing the need for organizational transformation and shared responsibility among different actors within the university context.