Gender Segregation Within Different Educational Levels: Austrian and Finnish Trends in the Light of Educational Reform, 1981-2005

Within most educational systems, men and women tend to specialize in different fields of study. Comparing Austria and Finland, this article traces the extent and patterns of gender segregation within different educational levels between 1981 and 2005. Relying on official enrollment figures, a logari...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scandinavian journal of educational research 2012-12, Vol.56 (6), p.637-657
Main Author: Prix, Irene
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Austria
Comparative Education
Desegregation
Education policy
Education reform
Educational Attainment
Educational Change
Educational History
educational levels
educational reform
Educational Trends
Enrollment
fields of study
Finland
Finnish language
Foreign Countries
Gender
Gender Differences
gender segregation
Higher Education
Majors (Students)
Males
Reform
Sex
Sexual Division of Labor
Students
Trend Analysis
Vocational Education
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Summary:Within most educational systems, men and women tend to specialize in different fields of study. Comparing Austria and Finland, this article traces the extent and patterns of gender segregation within different educational levels between 1981 and 2005. Relying on official enrollment figures, a logarithmic index is used to measure overall and field-specific gender segregation. Although results indicate that higher educational levels are less severely differentiated into male- and female-typical fields, notable differences exist between sectors of higher education. Reforms which shifted vocational programs to a higher educational level were often accompanied by desegregation tendencies in the affected fields. Nevertheless, this increase in educational prestige seems to have made female-dominated fields only to a limited extent more attractive to male students.
ISSN:0031-3831
1470-1170
DOI:10.1080/00313831.2011.621136