A autoridade acadêmica das mulheres docentes da graduação em Direito da FDUFBA, em 2023.

Abstract

How powerful are women who are already in power? Does the academic authority of women law professors has the same recognition as the male authority counterparts in legal education? What is the impact of female underrepresentation on critical legal education and the formation of legal knowledge? To propose possible answers and new questions regarding the role of women in legal knowledge, from the perspective of the undergraduate course at the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Bahia in 2023, this study aims to: (i) trace the development of Feminist Epistemology in Law; (ii) to identify, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the member’s composition of the faculty and the bibliographic references for the mandatory components of the course under analysis; (iii) to discuss the impact of the presence of women law professors and authors on the formation of legal knowledge, which is intended to be feminist and critical. To meet these objectives, a qualitative-quantitative methodological approach was used, with data collected by gender regarding the composition of the teaching Law staff faculty and the bibliographic references indicated in its mandatory components. After these documental analyses, a qualitative data collection tool was used as an online questionnaire sent to female professors in the investigated course. The data was produced, processed and interpreted through the analytical lenses of Perspectivist Feminist Epistemologies or Point of View Theories or Standpoint Theories, and, above all, through the theoretical frameworks of this work: Donna Haraway (1995), Mary Ann Sieghart (2022), Mary Beard (2023) and Sandra Harding (1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2019). Foundational theoretical references include Dorothy Smith (1987), Heleieth Saffioti (1987, 2000, 2009, 2015), Londa Schiebinger (2001), Rebecca Solnit (2017, 2021) and Susan Bordo (2000). The bibliographical research explores the concepts of authority, the glass ceiling, crystal labyrinth, equality, parity and gender equity in the context of female representation in science and law teaching. The empirical data showed that male Law professors dominate, alone, 68.14% of the body faculty and 95.21% of the bibliographic references during the 5 years of the undergraduate curriculum in Law School. Women authors do not account for even 5% of the works listed and indicated in the 31 compulsory components. In 5 years of undergraduate Law Study, the mandatory curriculum contains only 23 works authored by women and 458 works authored by men. As for the teaching staff, the 36 women Law professors represent less than half of the Law faculty body, with 31.86%, while the 77 male professors dominate with 68.14%. As for the questionnaires, the responses were diverse, but the respondents unanimously agreed that they had already been questioned or doubted regarding their theoretical knowledge, legal practice, qualifications, and degrees, which mirrors the debate that has been developed about the lack of authority of women in legal education and their disempowerment. What academic authority is possible to achieve in this institutional context?