Educação e formação profissional feminina na Paraíba : Academia De Comércio Epitácio Pessoa (1922-1947)

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the professional training of women at the Academia de Comércio Epitácio Pessoa (ACEP) between 1922 and 1947, a period defined by the institution’s founding year and by the records of graduates published in the work of Clóvis Lima, former professor and director of ACEP. The investigation adopts a qualitative approach based on documentary research, literature review, and content analysis, following the methodological principles proposed by Bardin (2020). The study is grounded in Cultural History (Burke, 2008; Hunt, 1992), articulated with gender perspectives (Perrot, 2005; Saffioti, 1987; Bourdieu, 2012; Vergès, 2020) and with the understanding of educational institutions as spaces of sociocultural mediation (Magalhães, 2004; Nosella & Buffa, 2013; Sirinelli, 2003). Considering the historical silencing of women’s trajectories, especially in public life, the research seeks to understand how the training offered by ACEP contributed to women’s insertion into the labor market, taking into account their educational trajectories, social networks, and formative experiences. By examining the traces of these women’s actions and paths, the study contributes to the historiography of ACEP and to broader debates on women’s professional education in Paraíba throughout the twentieth century, highlighting that although the institution trained women for the labor market, their insertion occurred predominantly in occupations perceived as extensions of domestic work.