National education systems and gender gaps in STEM occupational expectations

•The study examines gender gaps in STEM career expectations in 49 countries.•Girls are more likely than boys to expect to have health service occupations.•Boys are more likely than girls to expect to have computing and engineering careers.•Standardized curricula do not explain the gender gap in STEM...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of educational development 2016-07, Vol.49, p.175-187
Main Author: Han, Seong Won
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Gender inequality
Occupational expectations
PISA
Standardization
STEM
Stratification
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Summary:•The study examines gender gaps in STEM career expectations in 49 countries.•Girls are more likely than boys to expect to have health service occupations.•Boys are more likely than girls to expect to have computing and engineering careers.•Standardized curricula do not explain the gender gap in STEM career expectations.•Number of school types is positively linked to the gender gap in STEM career plans. This study examines associations between features of national education systems and the gender gap in STEM-related occupational expectations across 49 countries. Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the study finds no association between uniformity of curricula at the national level (standardization) and the gender gap in STEM occupational expectations; in contrast, the availability of more school types at the secondary level (stratification) is associated with a larger gender gap in STEM occupational expectations. In addition, this positive association between stratified systems and the gender gap in STEM occupational expectations is stronger for top-performers than for low-performers.
ISSN:0738-0593
1873-4871
DOI:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.03.004