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

: Prix Irene

Publisher: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

: 2012

: Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research

: SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

: SCAND J EDUC RES

: 56

: 6

: 637

: 657

: 21

: 0031-3831

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2011.621136

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.