Women, natural sciences and academic employment in Argentina (1900-1940)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine some aspects of the referential of ideas and possibilities surrounding the insertion of women in the academic job market within the Argentine context in the first half of the twentieth century, considering a study case the event occurred at a private scientific institution. The first part focuses on the mood of ideas that have been conveyed concerning the "special skills" that women had for certain tasks and jobs in the first decade of the twentieth century, within the context of the debate in favor of female labor, the emergence of a feminist movement and the first university grads in various professions. In the second part, we seek to review the employment opportunities and scientific education of women in the case of the  La Plata Museum, which, since  1906 has been incorporated into  the La Plata National University, functioning as scientific institute and Faculty of Natural Sciences.