Intersectionality and the Experiences of Women in Stem in Colombia

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in Colombia through an intersectional lens. Drawing on focus groups with undergraduate students, graduates, and women in leadership positions, the study analyzes how gender interacts with class, ethnicity, territory, age, nationality, and family roles to shape unequal trajectories in academic and professional settings. The findings show that exclusion in STEM cannot be explained by gender alone. Instead, it is organized through a matrix of domination in which some women enter and remain in STEM under significantly harsher conditions than others. The analysis highlights five central dynamics: the unequal weight of class-based and territorial disadvantages, the political invisibility of Afro-descendant and Indigenous women, the penalization of motherhood, the normalization of symbolic and communicative violence, and the transfer of institutional care to informal support networks. At the same time, the study identifies forms of agency and perseverance developed by participants, although these often come at the cost of emotional hardening, chronic exhaustion, and self-surveillance. Rather than celebrating resilience as a sufficient answer, the article argues for a shift toward institutional responsibility, epistemic justice, and more habitable educational and professional environments for women in STEM.