Institutional Diagnosis : how does the Theology and Humanities faculty at Universidad Luterana Salvadoreña (Salvadoran Lutheran University) construct gender matters?

Abstract

The university does not only teach, research and has social outreach, voluntarily or not, but also replicates a life style. On this basis, a qualitative study was undertaken, focused on diagnosing the gender social construct at the Universidad Luterana Salvadoreña (Salvadoran Lutheran University), steaming from the relationships that occur at the university community, as a result of the development of the teaching-learning process concerning the 2016-2017 period. In correspondence with the subject of the study and its objectives, the research was conducted under the qualitative method, which favored the use of techniques such as nonparticipant observation, focused groups and focus groups. It is worth mentioning that, in accordance with the purpose of the study, a purposive sampling of 27 key informants was used, these being deanship, career coordinators, professors and University students that were selected based on their participation suitability and accessibility. In this research, it can be concluded that the relations that take place between the different members of the University community are mediated by a hierarchical structure which is characteristic of the patriarchal system.

However, it is possible to identify the openness and efforts from students, professors and career coordinators in the construction of more equitable and equal relationships between women and men, in which the influence of the official and hidden curriculum goes almost unnoticed.