This article investigates the disparity in the situation of women and men in the Brazilian
educational system and the international and national goals for equal gender opportunity in
education. To this end, it analyzes and interprets educational statistics, the resolutions of
international conferences from the 1990s and documents from multilateral, governmental and
non-governmental organizations on the subject. It concludes by pointing out the ideological
nature of the various interpretations of the data, suggesting the need to expand the theoretical
work on this issue
