The "Feminist May" at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Demands and their effects on the design of public policies within higher education institutions

Abstract

In 2018, a new social mobilization milestone was registered in Chile, the so-called “Mayo feminista”, where hundreds of Chilean students occupied the streets to call for the end to gender violence and discrimination within educational institutions. This research, based on a case study of the Pontifical Catholic University (PCU), seeks to answer the question how are the demands within the Feminist Student Movement (FSM) placed in the public debate for the design of policies with a gender perspective in Higher Education? To answer this question, the research field used an ethnographic observation during some of the key moments of the main building takeover (Casa Central), the deployment of semi-structured interviews with the main spokespersons and activists of the Movement, and the monitoring of the effects of the mobilizations through the Chilean press. It was observed that there has been a great coincidence concerning the demands promoted by the different branches of belonging to the FSM. However, the effects of changes within Higher Education Institutions are reflected in very different ways by the press, although it always highlighs: the recognition of the social name of transgender people, the protocolization of accompanying measures to victims of sexual harassment and the use of inclusive language.