Gender issues in undergraduate education in occupational therapy in Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: The gender and sexual oppression that people experience in everyday life imply occupational involvement; therefore, it is necessary that this theme be incorporated into the graduate training of occupational therapists. Objective: To identify and characterise the meaning that informs the incorporation of the theme "gender issues" in graduate education in occupational therapy in Brazil. Material and Methods: Exploratory and descriptive research, of a qualitative and quantitative nature, was conducted between April 2020 and May 2021. Documents (media) were mined on the electronic sites of 36 undergraduate courses in occupational therapy from Brazilian universities related to the curricular matrix, the Pedagogical Political Projects (PPP), academic curriculum (available electronically on the Lattes Platform - CNPQ) and lesson plans. Simple descriptive statistics and a documentary and content analysis approach were used for the treatment of the data. Results: Of the 384 documents mined, 65.3% address topics related to “gender issues”. However, this percentage accounts for only 19.4% of the universe of occupational therapy courses, concentrated in 6 universities, including 5 public and 1 private. The themes are mostly developed in research. Conclusion: Themes on "gender issues" are rarely officially addressed in occupational therapy training in Brazil. However, changes are observed with the revision of the National Curriculum Guidelines to reorient PPPs and the undergraduate curriculum. This proves to be opportune due to the intense engagement of professors-researchers, students and occupational therapists in the agenda of social and human rights of gender and sexual minorities.