RURAL YOUTH FROM RIO GRANDE DO SUL/BRAZIL: GENDER ISSUES IN GENERATIONAL SUCCESSION

Abstract

Gender issues involved in the process of rural succession in Brazil are present in the research agenda related to concern for the future of rural areas. Taking these aspects into consideration, the objective was to identify whether young rural women from Rio Grande do Sul (RS) project their future in the countryside, intend to be successors of their family's rural property, or envision a future in the urban environment. Allied to this, we sought to identify factors that influence family succession and the permanence of these young people in the field, as well as possible gender distinctions involved in this process. For the survey of quantitative data we used a closed questionnaire, applied in the second half of 2018 to 743 young rural men and women who attended high school in RS. Although 47.9% of young people are interested in staying in rural areas, young women, when compared to young men, are less encouraged by their parents to stay on the property, have less interest in all aspects that address rural issues, such as being a successor (28.6%), being a manager (31.5%), and stay on property (33.5%). Issues related to non-recognition of female work and the difficulties encountered in working in the countryside, as well as possibilities for professionalization and gain of autonomy in the urban environment, drive the interest of young women in leaving the countryside.