Problematizing some Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda: girls must know mathematics

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the report produced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO (2018) which discusses some objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations (UN) as well as the notes for the development sustainable development of nations through education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In this report, both mathematical knowledge and gender issues appear articulated and this relationship is identified as a key element for the defended sustainable development. The investigation problematizes the conclusions presented by the document, showing that the narrative present in it indicates that qualified citizenship must insert all individuals in the social dynamics of specialized work, so girls and women cannot be left out of this, given that they are a huge contingent of the population leading to the understanding of the ways in which neoliberal rationality is constituted as a contemporary art of producing and governing subjectivities. Therefore, the results show that, despite the ubiquitous outcry in society to overcome gender inequalities as a fundamental demand in contemporary times, this accrues from the need orchestrated by the current rationality of engaging girls and women as specialized and qualified contingents for the labor market.