Scientific research training of indigenous women in Oaxaca: Methodological routes and epistemic challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The objective of the article is to analyze some scientific research training experiences of indigenous women from Oaxaca, an entity in southern Mexico, as well as understand the methodological and epistemic complexity involved in the scientific training of indigenous women in a context of inequalities. The experiences of the participating indigenous women are collected within a research project that was developed in 2020-2023, with financing from the Sectoral Development and Research Fund of the National Women's Institute and the National Council of Humanities, Science and Technology. The analysis of some training experiences in scientific research, as well as the methodological journeys and epistemic challenges detailed in the following sections, are framed in the confinement situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the results obtained, we can see the ways in which the pandemic generated new aspects of the concurrent inequalities experienced by indigenous Oaxacan women, but also the ways in which this situation motivated a different experience of inquiry to rethink the meanings and ways of doing research. The agency capacity of the women themselves was strengthened to overcome their adverse circumstances due to ethnic and gender status, and the social impact in their community environments with other women.