Gender, work and technical education (1928-1968)

The exhibition Gender, work and technical education (1928 to 1968) was designed with the aim of recalling the gradual evolution of women’s technical education through a visual narration which, with its lights and shadows, pays tribute to all the women of different generations that, between the fascist era and the first period of the Italian Republic, decided to undertake technical and professional education, for the sake of their own career and independence.

The historical photos reveal the gender stereotyping of technical education and the first attempts in surpassing this traditional vision of femininity during the 1960s, with the entry of women in technical-industrial institutes, which were previously reserved only for men.

The last section of the exhibition is dedicated to the present and to Istituti Tecnologici Superiori (Higher Technical Institutes – ITS Academy), offering tertiary vocational curricula in which the gender gap still represents a major challenge to be addressed in the coming years.

Learn more

>Timeline

>Towards mass education: look at the charts

—

Coordination
Pamela Giorgi

Research project curated by
Maria Beatrice Bacci, Rubina Bazzani, Eloisa Betti, Pamela Giorgi, Giuditta Maria Giulianelli, Chiara Martinelli, Valentina Pedani, Irene Zoppi, Antonella Zuccaro

Text translation
Rubina Bazzani, Giuditta Maria Giulianelli

Exhibition project
Arch. Efisio Corongiu, Arch. Marco Gigliotti

Graphic design
Paolo Curina with Martina Trevisani, Andrea Aldini

Communications office
Fabiana Bertazzi, Patrizia Centi, Luisa Ingrassia, Luca Rosetti, Nicoletta Zagli

Exhibited materials
Archivio storico INDIRE, Archivio storico UDI Bologna

Photographic material
Archivio storico INDIRE, Archivio Fotografico Museo del Patrimonio Industriale (Bologna), Archivio storico UDI Bologna, Archivio privato Katia Graziosi

Audio
Audio curated by Andrea Bacci, with interviews from project Genere, lavoro e cultura tecnica tra passato e futuro. Introduction read by Donatella Allegro, soundtrack by Daniele Branchini

Special thanks to
Benedetto Fragnelli, Maura Grandi, Katia Graziosi, Marta Magrinelli, Claudia Padovani, Associazione Archivio Storico Olivetti di Ivrea, Gian Michele Alessio Zoeddu