As desigualdades existentes entre mulheres e homens no que se refere à qualidade de vida são patentes no Brasil e evidenciadas por indicadores socioeconômicos. Programas e ações governamentais concebidos e executados sem a adoção da perspectiva de gênero são um dos elementos que impedem a concretização do princípio de igualdade de oportunidades. A incorporação da transversalidade de gênero nas políticas públicas no Brasil é recente, assim como os estudos e a avaliação dos orçamentos públicos. Este artigo pretende contribuir para o avanço desse tema, discutindo e analisando a política social proposta no Plano Plurianual do governo de Mato Grosso à luz do enfoque transformador e da teoria feminista. Busca-se, também, refletir em que medida o governo local está observando o compromisso político assumido com o governo federal de enfrentar as desigualdades de gênero e de realizar a gestão transversal de políticas públicas, explicitadas no Plano Nacional de Políticas para as Mulheres.

The incorporation of the perspective of gender in the public policies in Brazil is quite recent, being few the registry and analysis of the provincial and municipal experiences, in special, that concern the initiatives of formulation and management of public budgets. This article tries to contribute to the overcoming of this fault, discussing and analyzing the 2004-2007 Pluriannual Plan of the Government of Mato Grosso State, under the light of the transforming approach (Sen, 1998) and of the feminist theory. Another discussion is whether the government is incorporating the political commitment assumed by the federal government to face the gender inequalities and to make the cross-sectional management of its public policies, specified in the National Plan of Policies for the Women.

Brazili's school system has a high above-age rate, that is, a high percentage (over 60%) of students whose age is above the school age expected for the school year they are enrolled in. In this article we look into the mechanisms responsible for above-age from a sociological perspetive, and inquire whether its causes are found both in the way social actions are structured and in the norms that make up the social structure. Our hypothesis is that the major cause for above-age is found in the cultural gap between the school system and the students' disadvantaged social and financial backgroung, especially those with African descent. However, another cause observed derives from individual dicisions. Certainly, individuals with this social bacground decide to take up again the subjects they have not yet passed, but their academic results and their expectations for the future suffer from the dificulties awaiting along their schooling. Class and ethnic slant seem to aggravate due to students' differing perceptions on the advantages and disadvantages in continuing with their studies. Our analysis, therefore, shows these circumstances considering social actions and structural conditions (cf. el modelo de Boudon, 1983; Goldthorpe, 1996).

El sistema escolar brasileño tiene elevada participación (mas de 60%) de estudiantes con una edad cronológica superior a la edad escolar correspondiente al curso en que se han matriculado (fenómeno de la "sobre-edad"). En este artículo queremos indagar los mecanismos causales de la "sobre-edad", desde una perspectiva sociológica, indagando si sus causas estriban en una estructuración concreta de las acciones sociales y las normas que constituyen la estructura social. Nuestra hipótesis argumenta que una de las causas de la "sobre-edad" es el efecto primario de la distancia cultural establecida entre el sistema escolar y el origen socioeconómico de los estudiantes, en especial de los negros. Sin embargo, también se observa otra causa que opera a través del efecto secundario de las decisiones individuales. Ciertamente, los individuos de estos orígenes sociales toman la decisión de continuar repitiendo los cursos que les quedan pendientes, pero sus resultados académicos y sus expectativas de futuro se resienten ante las dificultades que les esperan en este camino. En las encrucijadas escolares parecen exacerbarse los sesgos de clase y etnia debido a la desigual percepción de las ventajas y de los inconvenientes de continuar los estudios. Nuestro análisis, por tanto, da cuenta de estas circunstancias a partir de las acciones sociales y de sus condicionantes estructurales (cf. el modelo de Boudon, 1983; Goldthorpe, 1996).