Lengua, género e identidad en Ingeniería: Narrativas e historias de vida de estudiantes y profesionales indígenas en Chile

This research analyzes the articulation between language, gender, and identity in the trajectories of indigenous students and professionals in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, specifically Engineering in Chile. Contextualized within the hegemony of the Spanish language and the historical masculinization of these disciplines—where women represent only 20.8% of enrollment (SIES, 2025)—the study adopts a qualitative methodology with a hermeneutic-interpretive approach. Through life-story interviews conducted with four participants, the study explores the discursive and affective meanings participants attribute to their native language and how gender inequalities mediate their academic experiences. Results show that linguistic displacement historically operated as a protection strategy against discrimination, although the language persists symbolically in domestic and affective spaces. At the intersection of gender and ethnicity, epistemic violence is revealed, wherein women face double exclusion, frequently being relegated to support roles under the "Matilda effect." However, the memory of the female lineage emerges as a driver of resilience and vindication. It is concluded that indigenous identity acts as an ethical resource of resistance against academic homogenization, and that current inclusion policies are insufficient if they do not dismantle the colonial and sexist structures conditioning the production of scientific knowledge.