Political Participation of Women in School Government. Case study of Los Uvos Educational Institution (Municipality of La Vega, Cauca, Colombia)

Abstract

The article analyzes the process of political participation of women in the spaces of the school government of the Los Uvos Educational Institution, located in the municipality of La Vega, Department of Cauca, Colombia. From a case study, it seeks to establish gender relations in the processes of participation of the students of the ninth, tenth and eleventh grades, and their incidence in the political culture of the educational institution, to project strategies of empowerment of young women, understanding that political participation is a central field of interest in contemporary training processes. As a result of a co-theorization process, in which the students proposed categories of analysis to address the problem of political participation in the educational institution, it is concluded that the levels of political participation of women are lower than those of men. This is influenced by factors such as charisma, the lack of projection of women as key actors in the deliberation processes of public affairs inherent to the comprehensive training process and the historical exclusion of women from the institutional spheres of public political deliberation. Against this background, it is identified that the students have a political vocation that is expressed through devices and non-institutionalized leadership scenarios, which go beyond the formal spaces institutionally destined for political participation, which acquire a more social imprint.