Proposição do perfil conceitual para mulher cientista do Brasil: caminhos a partir do projeto Lua e revista Devas

Abstract

This study proposes the development of a conceptual profile of Brazilian women scientists (PCMCB), based on the assumption that the constitution of concepts is polysemic, dynamic, and historically situated. Scientific and social concepts are understood not as static entities, but as processes shaped and transformed through cultural, discursive, and historical interactions that permeate subjects and the contexts in which they are embedded. In this sense, the study is grounded in Mortimer’s (1996) Theory of Conceptual Profiles as its central theoretical and methodological framework, articulated with contributions from Piaget (1934), Wertsch (1988), and Bachelard (2000), thereby establishing a dialogue among epistemology, ontology, and axiology in the field of Science Education. This qualitative, theoreticalempirical study was developed through the interplay between theoretical foundations and formative practices experienced within the context of the Lua Project and the Devas Journal, initiatives aimed at valuing, giving visibility to, and recognizing the trajectories of Brazilian women scientists. These formative actions constituted privileged spaces for listening, dialogue, and meaning-making, enabling the emergence of narratives, discourses, and perceptions that reveal how the concept of women scientists is constructed, negotiated, and resignified within educational contexts. The main objective of this study was to propose a conceptual profile of Brazilian women scientists by analyzing the multiple forms of representation, understanding, and meaning attributed to the concept of women scientists (WS) in Science Education (SE). Specifically, the study sought to: (1) investigate the historical and discursive trajectory of the constitution of concepts related to women scientists in Brazil; (2) conduct a survey of academic journals to identify how women scientists have been represented in scientific production over the last decade; (3) propose conceptual profile zones for women scientists based on the statements, narratives, and perceptions of students participating in the formative actions; and (4) analyze the modes of proposition and pedagogical mediations that emerge from these educational experiences. The results highlight the persistence of stereotypes, invisibilities, and historical silencing related to women’s presence in the sciences, revealing symbolic structures that continue to limit the recognition of women as legitimate producers of scientific knowledge. However, movements of resistance, affirmation, and identity reconfiguration are also identified in the discourses of participating students, indicating processes of critical awareness and empowerment. Based on the analysis of interactions, interviews, and collective productions, eight conceptual profile zones were delineated: institutional, emancipatory, normative-mimetic, historicized, tutelary, symbolic struggles, lexical, and representational. Each zone expresses distinct dimensions of how the concept of women scientists is understood, tensioning values, forms of knowledge, and positions between hegemonic scientific traditions and contemporary practices of inclusion, diversity, and female protagonism. The study indicates that the proposal of a PCMCB constitutes a movement of critical epistemology and knowledge decolonization, as it promotes the coexistence of different ways of knowing, interpreting, and representing science. It is concluded that recognizing and systematizing these zones contributes to the strengthening of more just, inclusive, and contextualized pedagogical practices, fostering the scientific education of girls and women and expanding the understanding of science as a plural, dialogical, and emancipatory field.