Introduction: The transition from higher education to the labor market is currently a critical issue, as it impacts economic growth, social cohesion, and professional development; therefore, this motivates research aimed at providing insights for the design of educational and training policies that help strengthen graduates’ job skills and promote social justice. Objective: To analyze the scientific literature on the employability of graduates and the education-to-work transition, with the aim of deriving clear implications for university administration and the design of public policies. Method: The research employed a qualitative approach with a descriptive design and bibliometric scope; consequently, 26 articles indexed in scientific databases were considered as sources of information, following the application of selection criteria. Results: Studies on graduate employability and the transition from higher education to the workforce revealed a significant gap between traditional academic training and the requirements of today’s labor market. Conclusion: Employability cannot be defined solely as securing a job; rather, it encompasses a set of qualities and skills that increase the likelihood of achieving professional success, which highlights a mismatch between what is assessed by higher education institutions and the competencies required.
Introduction: The study examines the construction of memory in Nicaragua following the 2018 protests based on the cartoons of Pedro X Molina. The research is framed within historical memory and cultural representations. Objective: To analyze the representations within Pedro X Molina’s editorial cartoons in the construction of memory regarding the April 2018 social movements in Nicaragua, in order to identify symbolic codes and resources used for the annual commemoration of these events through 2025. Method and technique: A content analysis approach was employed, integrating qualitative insights derived from the cartoons to explore the development of visual codes with quantitative analysis to identify trends and outliers within the illustrations. The corpus consists of cartoons published in two books by the author and in the newspaper Confidencial. Results: The construction of memory through political cartoons demonstrated that humor serves as a mechanism for processing traumas experienced by both the artist and the general population. To this end, a collective memory was articulated through codes that included national symbols, the differentiation between Sandinismo and Orteguismo, and the characterization of the dictatorial couple as a ruthless entity in opposition to the people. Conclusions: Editorial cartoons represent a collective memory strategy that bolsters the call for social resistance during times of crisis. Humor, as a subversive act, facilitates the construction of a counter-hegemonic memory.
Introduction: The Ngäbe people of Sixaola constitute a transboundary Indigenous community facing a range of social and environmental challenges stemming from the absence of an officially recognized Indigenous territory. In response, the community has undertaken a series of collective actions to demand that the Costa Rican state fulfill their ancestral right to land and territory. Objective: To analyze the struggle for the creation of an Indigenous territory for the Ngäbe people of Sixaola, framed through the theoretical lens of socio-territorial movements. Method and Technique: A documentary review based on the analysis of bibliographic and hemerographic sources was conducted. First, available bibliographic material was reviewed; subsequently, hemerographic information was systematized due to the limited availability of specific scholarly literature on this Indigenous group. Results: The spatial configuration of the various Ngäbe groups in Costa Rica and Panama was characterized, and relevant bibliographic sources on social and socio-territorial movements were identified. Four main categories of issues faced by the Ngäbe people of Sixaola were documented. The community’s territorial struggle was analyzed through the characterization of their claims and the repertoire of collective actions undertaken. Conclusions: The struggle for territorial recognition by this Indigenous community can be understood within the framework of socio-territorial movements, as the core of their political agency centers on the urgent need to initiate a process of territorialization.
Introduction: Digital sexual violence has intensified through platform infrastructures, virality, and business models that amplify harms against women and girls. In Mexico, these violences are also articulated with manosphere repertoires and are further amplified by generative AI—particularly through sexual deepfakes—while institutional responses remain insufficient. Objective: To analyze, from a feminist and sociotechnical perspective, how forms of digital sexual violence are configured and reproduced in Zacatecas through two cases (non-consensual dissemination on Telegram and AI-enabled sexualization in a middle school), identifying structural continuities and proposing interdisciplinary pathways for intervention. Method: Qualitative documentary research grounded in feminist and sociotechnical principles. The study triangulates journalistic reports, social media posts, institutional documents, academic literature (2020–2025), and statements from feminist collectives. The analysis focuses on two representative situations in Zacatecas: the Telegram group “Zacatecas Apartes” and the creation and circulation of AI-generated sexualized images in a secondary school. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction and objective: This study sought to analyze in a multidimensional way the tourism sustainability of Santa Cruz Island, in the Galapagos archipelago, considering the importance of the balance between tourism development and the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the destination. Methodology: A non-experimental, exploratory and descriptive research was developed, based on the deductive method. To collect information, a structured survey was applied to three interest groups: local residents, national tourists and foreign tourists. The questionnaire was designed with a Likert scale based on tourism sustainability indicators from UN-Tourism, and the traffic light technique was used as an evaluation tool. The dimensions analyzed were environmental, economic and sociocultural. Results: The results show an uneven performance between the dimensions studied. Strengths were identified in the economic sphere and in sociocultural coexistence; however, weaknesses were also detected in the environmental dimension, especially related to waste management, tourist transport and the limited visibility of environmental certifications. Conclusions: The findings reflect the need to design proposals aimed at strengthening tourism sustainability on Santa Cruz Island, in order to improve the balance between tourism growth and the conservation of its natural and cultural resources.
Introduction: This article presents a systematic literature review of regulations and research on climate change that incorporate a gender perspective. Objective: To highlight the main discussions on climate change from a gender perspective at the local and regional levels in Latin America, as well as the regulations related to the need for its inclusion in the study of the climate crisis. Methodology: A systematization of the main legal instruments relevant to the topic was carried out. Research from the last 10 years was also compiled, searching electronic resources subscribed to by the National University of Costa Rica. The review began with the keywords "climate change" and "gender." Subsequently, the documents that support this proposal were selected, prioritizing those that included one of the categories of interest. Results: Costa Rica has robust regulations regarding climate change and gender. However, their implementation faces limitations associated with scarce economic and human resources, political apathy, and low citizen engagement. The research agrees on the urgency of incorporating a gender perspective to achieve climate justice. It shows that climate change impacts are differentiated, with women being the most affected. Conclusions: A gender perspective allows us to identify how climate change differentially impacts people's lives, affecting historically vulnerable populations, including women, to a greater extent.
Introduction: This article examines how the discourses produced by students at the Guanacaste Campus of the University of Costa Rica give rise to the reproduction of neoliberal rationalities that progressively shape certain modes of subjectivation. These rationalities — by mobilizing notions of individual autonomy and responsibility, as well as affectivity — operate as genuine techniques for governing conduct. Objective: To describe and interpret the convergence of performance rationality, the moralization of the entrepreneurial subject, and the emotionalization of work in Final Graduation Projects completed between 2021 and 2025 at the Guanacaste Campus. Method and technique: This study draws on a hermeneutic and discursive analysis of a corpus comprising fifteen Final Graduation Projects. An analytical and systematic reading of the material was conducted to identify discursive units related to performance, efficiency, and personal responsibility, as well as to entrepreneurial initiative and emotion management. Once identified, the relevant excerpts were entered into an analytical matrix for subsequent interpretation.
Introduction: This research has highlighted gender inequalities in STEM careers (of science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at the Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica UNED through the implementation of photovoice during 2024. Through the implementation of photovoice, it has been confirmed that the gender gap in STEM is a result of the existing structural barriers and has revealed violence against women in these professional fields according to the students' perceptions. Objective: To describe the results of photovoice in relation to the social problem of gender inequality that exists in STEM careers at UNED de Costa Rica Method: The qualitative technique of photovoice was used to generate information under participatory action research. Grounded theory with emergent categories (Thornberg & Charmaz, 2014) was used for the analysis because it allows for simultaneous data collection and analysis. Results: The gender gap, to the detriment of women, is observed in the results obtained from the students' perceptions, as a consequence of inequality in STEM fields. Other findings include stereotypes, prejudices, self-invisibility, and exclusion, which are also associated with these fields as factors that widen rather than reduce the gap. There are also positive results, such as support networks and self-belief in achieving their dreams. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction: This article seeks to formulate both cartographical and statistical comparisons with the few data sets that exist obtained from relevant public institutions, regarding the total area and land possession in the indigenous territories of Ujarrás, Salitre and Cabagra, in Buenos Aires, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. This investigation is part of an interdisciplinary investigation project on the interethnic conflicts within these territories and possible contributions towards resolutions. Objective: 1) To cartographically show, between the years of 1945, 1956 and 1982, the variation of the size of the indigenous territory of Ujarrás-Salitre-Cabagral; and 2) To statistically document, between the years 1966, 1987 and 2000, the possession of land in the Indigenous Territory of Ujarrás-Salitre-Cabagra. Method and technique: From the Executive Decrees numbering 45, 34 and 13571, from the years 1945, 1956 and 1982, respectively, a comparative cartography of the indigenous territory Ujarrás-Salitre-Cabagra was made. Then, through the use of data from ITCO-IDA-INDER, JPRAN, INEC, CONAI and various publications, a comparative statistical analysis of land possession inside the indigenous territory of Ujarrás-Salitre-Cabagra was made. Results: Government action via executive decrees and the illegal occupation of lands by non-indigenous people, by the year 2000, meant a total loss of 35,016 ha, or 53,7% of the original 1945 land decree of 65,157 ha. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction: Contemporary studies on inequality frequently fragment social life into isolated factors—economic, cultural, or identity-based—thereby hindering the comprehension of how inclusion/exclusion relations are produced in relational and multiscalar terms. This article addresses the problem of how to construct an analytical framework that articulates historical totality, power relations, and intersections without reducing reality to partial segments or losing the specificity of situated inequalities. Method: Through a theoretical-conceptual design, three traditions are critically articulated: Mészáros's dialectical totality, which situates the tension between the reproduction of life and the reproduction of capital; Collins and Bilge's intersectionality, which specifies how power produces differential positions; and Bourdieu's field theory, which provides mediations for analyzing capitals, legitimation, and practices. Results: An analytical architecture is proposed, organized across three levels—macro (social metabolic order and second-order mediations), meso (fields with rules and capital structures), and micro (habitus, trajectories, and repertoires)—traversed by four cross-cutting layers: the matrix of domination, intersectional axes, mechanisms of legitimation/capital convertibility, and spatiotemporal coordinates. Conclusions: The proposal overcomes fragmented economistic and identitarian readings by offering conceptual coordinates for reconstructing how hierarchies, conflicts, and situated inequalities are configured. The architecture constitutes a heuristic tool for empirical research seeking to analyze inclusion/exclusion processes within specific historical contexts.
Introduction. The body, sensorially, and emotions are some of the analytical categories that have gained relevance in the study of gender violence, because asymmetries in power are associated with socio-emotional asymmetries that contribute to legitimizing and normalizing violence against those who embody devalued affective identities due to their gender, through emotions such as fear, sadness, shame, and guilt. Objective. To reflect, from a gender perspective, on the relevance of body maps as a methodological tool for social research, to shed light on the ways in which students at the Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades, Plantel Sur, experience cyberbullying. Method. Body maps are a projective and creative technique focused on understanding the sensory, emotional, and relational mechanisms through which people express, experience, and interpret reality. In this research, 37 students designed a body map in which they illustrated a cyberbullying experience that they had personally experienced or that someone close, a family member or friend, had experienced. Results. Some of the main findings of this research point to gender as a central variable for understanding identity and emotional norms in relationships between men and women. For their part, as a qualitative tool, body mapping offers an approach to the subjectivities of those who participated in the study regarding their ways of signifying and understanding cyberbullying on a level that transcends rational discourses surrounding this problem. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction: Over the last decade, the value chain approach has played an increasingly significant role in sustainable tourism studies due to its capacity to offer a comprehensive overview of how products are generated, distributed, consumed, and even recycled throughout its links. Objective: This article presents a systematic review of scientific literature published between 2003 and 2024 to analyze the conceptual evolution, empirical applications, and knowledge gaps regarding the value chain approach in sustainable tourism, with the aim of proposing perspectives for the formulation of public policies and management strategies. Method: The research relies on the protocol established by Tranfield et al. (2003), which enables the structuring of evidence in a rigorous and replicable manner. The study exclusively considered 25 indexed and peer-reviewed studies, prioritizing those published in high-impact journals (Q1 and Q2) according to the Scimago Journal Rank (SJR). Results: Findings reveal an evolution of the value chain concept beyond its original focus on economic efficiency toward models that integrate elements such as collaborative governance, digitalization, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Shared value, equal participation of actors, and a focus on territorial equity are identified as key factors. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction: In various academic settings at the university level, engagement with society is promoted as an integral part of students’ learning curriculum. At the University of Costa Rica (UCR), and as a reflection of its humanistic, public, and common-good-oriented mission, the University Community Work (TCU) program has been established. This mechanism facilitates the exchange of knowledge and the recognition of national realities for both teaching staff and future professionals, while simultaneously contributing to vulnerable sectors in pursuit of equity and sustainable development. Objective: To identify the contributions of the University Community Work experience to university learning within a framework of interdisciplinarity and collaboration with community-based organizations. Method: Through qualitative techniques such as document review, consultations, and dialogue with people involved, from both the university sector and the organized community groups, the study aimed to describe and reflect on the contributions of the TCU experience in an open format guided by guiding questions. The analysis focuses on two long-standing projects with more than ten years of presence, particularly during the period from 2021 to 2023, which includes the adaptation to virtual environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction: This article focuses on the media violence faced by lesbian women in the Brazilian journalistic context. For this purpose, a Brazilian news portal with great national impact, G1, was selected, and from it, the journalistic representations of three cases of lesbophobic violence were studied. Main objective: To analyze the construction of news about lesbophobia in order to identify approaches, languages and narrative strategies of the media. Method and technique: Qualitative research based on three news articles from the G1 Portal about cases of lesbophobia that occurred in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The material was analyzed using an adaptation of the methodological protocol for Journalistic Coverage Analysis. Results: The erasure of lesbianism was observed (which occurs not only in the narratives themselves, but also in the lack of coverage of the cases); the sensationalization of the violence and pain of the victims; the lack of contextualization of the systemic nature of lesbophobia; the restricted use of sources and the reinforcement of the «immoral» attribution to lesbianism and its affections. Conclusions: Understanding that the media coverage of the cases analyzed exposed the victims to media violence, it is concluded that, instead of informing and contributing to educating about lesbianities, G1 journalism has acted to produce and reinforce negative social imaginaries regarding lesbianism – such as those related to immorality.
Introduction:In the framework of a patriarchal society such as the Costa Rican one, the understanding of the paternity link with the conceptions of hegemonic masculinity (HM) and the construction of alternative models of masculine identity are central elements. Main objective: to explore the practices and meanings of parenthood exercised by trans men in Costa Rica, for reflection on the experiences of men who, through the exercise of parenthood, challenge traditional masculinity. Method and technique: a case study was developed, based on the semi-structured interview technique and a content analysis was executed, to which an axial coding is applied. The case is relevant because it allows to make visible a concrete exercise of trans paternity, in turn, to problematize the notion of trans paternity predominant in the literature which prioritizes the biogenetic issue, which constitutes a historical element of discrimination of adoptive parentage (formal and/or, in fact) in force. The above allows us to approach the phenomenon of trans parenthood in Costa Rica, considering its complexity. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction: Costa Rica is facing the phenomenon of demographic aging, which is leading to economic, social, and political changes, alongside challenges in health care, pensions, and caregiving, among others. Likewise, as a result of gender inequalities experienced and accumulated throughout the life course, old age is experienced differently depending on whether one is a woman or a man, which is why, when conducting studies on older persons, it is essential to disaggregate by sex the data produced about this population. In this way, information is available to address the specific needs of older people. Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the living conditions of women and men aged 65 and over in Costa Rica, based on data on sociodemographic characteristics from the National Household Survey (ENAHO 2024). Method and Technique: This research employs data from the ENAHO 2024 survey, focusing on variables such as household headship, insurance status, poverty, and employment status, among others. Results: The research demonstrated significant gender-based differences among older adults in their access to employment, education, and health rights and in the use of Information and Communication Technologies, as well as inequalities in caregiving work, labor market participation, household maintenance, access to pensions, and unequal participation in household heads. [Continue reading in the article]
Introduction: The document proposes, for northwestern Costa Rica, an approach to the relationship between ceramic technology and culinary practices, based on the analysis of the manufacture, use, and consumption of ceramic plates associated with the Bagaces (300–800 CE) and Sapoá (800–1350 CE) archaeological periods. Objective: To explore the production and use of ceramic plates according to the socioeconomic practices of food preparation and serving in ancient Guanacaste. Methodology: A sample of 95 plates was analyzed for technological and functional aspects, complemented by digital documentation and experimental tests on replicas. Results: Technological changes were identified in surface treatments and decorative techniques of ceramic plates from the country’s northwest, evolving from monochrome plates with or without incisions during the Bagaces period (300–800 CE) to plates painted in trichrome or polychrome styles during the Sapoá period (800–1350 CE). These changes responded to culinary needs, such as serving and/or cooking solid foods by roasting. Hearths and stoves are proposed as possible cooking spaces for these plates. Conclusion: The technological and functional characterization of ceramic plates from ancient Guanacaste allowed for a deeper understanding of how and where they might have been used in consumption spaces. This study serves as a starting point for research lines that complement these findings.
Introduction: Costa Rica has consolidated a comprehensive conservation system, within which Cahuita National Park (CNP) is a special case, bringing together marine and terrestrial ecosystems managed through a model of shared governance between the state and the community. Although it generates economic and environmental benefits, there is still a divergence with the socioeconomic conditions of the district, highlighting an analytical gap in how these benefits are linked to local development. Objective: This article aims to identify the socioeconomic and environmental benefits generated by CNP and their relationship with socioeconomic development, analyzing strategies that benefit the community and the natural environment. Method and techniques: The study adopts a mixed approach that integrates documentary review, analysis of institutional information, and even semi-structured interviews with local actors. The data were articulated through triangulation to contrast environmental, economic, and governance dimensions associated with the park. Results: The analysis shows that the CNP contributes to ecosystem conservation and even generates employment and economic activity in the tourism sector. However, these benefits are not proportionally reflected in the district's conditions, particularly in terms of job opportunities, training, infrastructure, and local capacities to sustainably leverage the park's contributions. Conclusions: The findings show that the challenging relationship between conservation and local development depends on institutional, socioeconomic, and territorial factors that influence the distribution of benefits. The study provides evidence for strengthening shared governance and community capacities that impact the district's development.
Introduction: The extractivism of common natural resources is part of a broader socio-political strategy that legitimizes the exploitation of nature as a means to promote the development of national and global markets. As a consequence, communities have been dispossessed and displaced—not only territorially but also economically and in terms of labor—leading to significant social impacts. Objectives: This project aims to highlight community-based economic initiatives as viable alternative models for subsistence and social organization. These experiences emerged or were reinvented during the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of a Social Action program at the University of Costa Rica. Many of these initiatives have persisted and strengthened local resilience and solidarity. Methodology and Techniques: The project supporting these diverse experiences is grounded in Participatory Action Research and critical pedagogies, such as Popular Education. The findings presented are the result of this approach, which emphasizes collaborative, participatory, and dialogic processes that valorize historical memory and diverse knowledge systems. Results: Developing alternatives to the dominant economic system enables communities to pursue collective well-being, solidarity, and cultural identity. These community economies serve as a means to foster social cohesion and economic resilience from within. Conclusions: Community-based economies seek to redistribute resources and goods more equitably, improving local economic conditions through collective management of economic activities. Additionally, the role of Social Action is crucial in strengthening the link between the university and society, fostering social transformation and community empowerment.
Introduction: The act of lending predates capitalist societies; however, currently subjects excluded from capital markets choose to acquire financing from informal sources; among which reference is made to the figure of the gota a gota. Objetive: Discuss the production of knowledge associated with the study of informal debt and the gota a gota, mainly in Latin America. Method and technique: A review of 137 publications was carried out in different databases, academic repositories and the artificial intelligence tool Research Rabbit published between 1989 and 2024 was used. Results: Most of the research was published in journal articles (42.34%), in areas of Economic Sciences (56.20%). Broadly speaking, informal debt is a source of financing provided by a variety of subjects, which is accessed by people excluded from the regulated financial system with greater ease of access; while the gota a gota is associated with loans linked to illicit sources from drug trafficking and collection mechanisms considered usurious when it is not possible for the indebted people to pay off the debt. Conclusions: The lending subjects in the gota a gota have both economic and social power; economic by being able to modify the conditions of credit according to their interest and social by reproducing a collective fear of what can happen. While the states and the market have generated the conditions of exclusion so that this situation is perpetuated.
