Exercises: Factors that foster or limit participation

Tell the three concepts apart with a short definition and an example of your own from school life: interest, prejudice and stereotype. Then write one example of each that fosters or limits participation in the technology workshop.

In the middle school workshop, whenever it is time to use the drill or the soldering iron, several classmates assume the girls «don't know how» or «might get hurt» and push them aside to take notes. Identify which factor is at play (interest, prejudice or stereotype), explain how it limits equal opportunities and propose one concrete measure for the group.

In a community bricklaying crew, don Pedro always assigns the concrete mixing and the carrying of materials to the newly arrived young people «because that is how it has always been done», while the trusted ones do the finishes. Classify the factors involved (custom, interest, prejudice) and propose a way of sharing the tasks that gives everyone the same opportunities to learn.

The municipality offers a free course on solar panel installation, but it is taught only on weekdays from 9:00 to 14:00, downtown, two hours by bus from the surrounding communities. Analyze which factors limit the participation of women who care for relatives, of people with disabilities and of young people from the communities, and propose two changes that would widen equal opportunities.