Public policies that include Brazilian women: The Thousand Women Program as an interface between education and jobs

Abstract

This paper presents the Women Thousand Program as a policy of inclusion through education and jobs. It traces the history of public policies designed for women through the Thousand Women Program in the Brazil, and the women’s’ experiences at the Volta Redonda campus. The authors evaluate the public policies that include vulnerable women and efficiently assist them through school. Ethnographical methods were used, based on data obtained from participative observation and detailed monitoring of the daily life of the research participants. Through the lens of critical ethnography, which considers cultural, political, and economic factors, the results show a dissonance between the Thousand Women Program and the daily reality of its participants. In addition, the “salvationist” orientation of the school helps to perpetuate the exclusion of women and gender inequalities within Brazilian society.