Higher Education of Women vs Men, Essay Example

Introduction

There has been relatively little change in gender splits in upper secondary schools over the past 10 years. The study course tradition was reformed in the early 1990s, to become the current upper secondary programme system. Although one of the aims in this reform was to reduce gender divisions, the gender factor is still strong in today’s upper secondary schools. Women study in preparatory programmes for higher education to a greater extent than men, but vocationally oriented programmes are particularly heavily influenced by traditional gender patterns. Women perform better than men in upper secondary schools, and meet the basic entry requirements for university and higher education studies to a greater extent than men. Within three years of completion of upper secondary schooling, a considerably higher proportion of women that men have moved on to higher education.

In the recent past, women have begun to gain some access to higher learning which was not the case long time ago. Women used to take up household chores and roles while men used to be the sole bread winners. However, this has changed because with time society started to realize the importance of women gaining some form of self reliance and dependence. Women have now been able to acquire knowledge and nowadays occupy positions that are putting them in t he same professional positions as men.

In general relevance of higher education comparison between men and women is vital in identifying the reforms that are favoring equality among men and women and enabling their implementation. For current society to move forward, discrimination, favourism should be addressed once and for all.

Literature Review

Women have embarked on higher education studies more than men. But, to a large extent, women and men are opting for different programmes and different specializations within these programmes. The gender imbalance in the undergraduate programme has increased dur­ing the past 10 years that is to say that women predominate in more pro­grammes. At the same time, the number of both men and women from other countries has also increased strongly.  According to research carried out in some international universities, a full 19 per cent of university entrants come from other countries and in the case of men, foreign students account for a full 30 per cent of the total. In other words, if foreign students are excluded, the predominance of women would be even greater. More women than men take a qualification in seven out of nine broad sub­ject areas, and men only have a clear majority in the technology area (Schiebinger, 2008).

There are also further gender divisions within these broad subject areas. Women and men study different natural sciences subjects, for example. The graduation rate for women is higher than for men in most programmes that lead to a professional or vocational qualification. Women have gradually improved their position in the high prestige programmes and few men are interested in the short and medium term pro­grammes.

Access to higher learning has greatly changed over the past two decades worldwide with the total number of women receiving basic education increasing exponentially. Third world nations in Africa, Asia, North America and Western Europe have not been left behind. Although this countries are characterized by capitalism, socialism, low and high income zones and also conflict, the number of women enrolling in higher education training has increased greatly. This doesn’t necessarily mean that women are accessing the same kind of education as men.

This has been seen in some nations whereby women form a higher percentage of the students than men in higher education however they tend to be enrolled in non university institutions. A good example is Lesotho whereby the percentage of women in higher education is 63 per cent although only 49 per cent are enrolled in Universities. Similar cases are seen in Poland and Argentina among many other nations. This tendency shows that many countries have yet to diversify higher learning fully. According to empirical research the total number of women attending higher learning is related to the number of those attending primary and secondary education. In some countries women are more in higher education than men in secondary levels which shows that more men than women quit along the way. This is the case in the U.S and Finland where men outnumber women in secondary however the number of men that get to higher learning is more than that of women.

Women participation rates in higher learning directly influence the economic developments of a region. Higher rates of higher learning are tied to the contribution of women towards economic development. Research carried out in previous years has shown that countries whereby women participation in Higher learning is low (less than 20 per cent) tend to be among the poorest nations. This claim is however not valid under certain circumstances whereby some of the most industrialized countries having lower female students enrolled than male students. A good example is in the U.K whereby female students in higher education is lower than another nations like Brazil, Philippines and Cuba which are not as industrialized as U.K which clearly shows that industrialization can not by itself bring equality in terms of women accessing higher education (Alemán & Renn, 2002).

Also, despite socialism being associated with consequent improvement of national planning, it has also not helped increasing number of women receiving higher education. Socialist policies encourage gender equality and opportunity in learning and work for all. There however no clear guidelines/trends for women participation in Higher learning. Neither the economic conditions of a country nor the participation rates in secondary and primary education can clearly predict the extent to which women participate in Higher education which is because women do not study the same courses as men in Higher learning.

Women become more attracted to specific fields of expertise. Although a small number of women do male dominated subjects, there is still a clear distinction as to which subjects are most popular among the groups. A good example is like in central Africa whereby women form 11 per cent of the higher learning students, 5 per cent studying Education, another 5 per cent Humanities, 9 per cent studying Law, 10 per cent Sciences and 25 per cent doing health related courses. In countries such as Lesotho which has a high population of women in Higher education, 63 per cent in the world has majority of its students studying Education subjects and Humanities. This shows clearly the tendency to sex segregation which increases as access of higher learning equalizes between women and men.

Women access to Higher learning has greatly increased worldwide however the promise of gender equality has not been realized. This has greatly been as a result of many factors which include; their involvement of women as students compared to men (participation rate as students, administrators and also as professors) and also the way in which higher learning has shaped and influenced women participation in the economy. Also, the suitable policies that are in place, reforms and revolutions that have been able to shape possibilities for women to pursue higher learning. Lastly, the ways in which women can penetrate and compete in male dominated fields. In general, research has shown that women participation in higher education have been basically due to state reforms.

The access however that women have been able  to get has been to areas characterized by greatest difficulty in job hunting and also maintaining a full time job that have been known to emphasize managerial, technical and scientific expertise which is lacking in most women graduates. This has made men more marketable than women in the job market because men end up getting more skills that enable them to be competitive in job markets. In countries such as Sweden, research has shown that women are mostly part time employees. Even though in some cases the women might have similar qualifications to their male colleagues, many do not advance up in their careers as men do.

In Mexico, research has also shown that female graduates are marginalized in workforce. Most of them find themselves working in professions such as health and social work related. This shows the clear trend that qualification does not result into automatic opportunity in equality in workforce. Common pattern across the globe based on men and women in higher education is inequality in access to technical and scientific areas and also sex segregation within higher learning (Kelly & Slaughter, 1990).

Research Methodology

Research methodology refers to the rules and methods that are employed in a discipline. The main shortcoming of research methodology as a science used to analyses a discipline is usually the questionability of organizational reliability and efficiency. Optimal research methodology includes analysis, interpretation and reporting. A suitable approach into research on higher education on men vs. women would be based on factors affecting equality in Higher Education.

Policy and Politics

Policies and Politics play a major role in women participation in Higher learning. Politics of a country can be of civil rights nature or of socialist nature. This Politics can lead to changes in policies that favor or discourage women participation in national affairs. These policies vary between different nations and they can greatly promote women through crating of institutions that provide finance and logistical support through government programs. Policies in most socialist states generally proclaim equality among genders improving women participation in higher learning. Although these policies are aimed at creating an equal environment, this has not necessarily been the case.

There is still some level of segregation in terms of field of study as experienced in capitalist states. Moreover, equal access to learning opportunity does not necessarily add up to equal employment opportunity. In countries like china that have had policy changes aimed at benefiting women during revolutionary changes, a certain group of women would be favored over another. In this case, daughters of peasants were favored. In other countries such as Kenya, formal policies are set informally but through effective socialism process. Here, classroom practice and job market discrimination work towards discouraging women to study subjects that are male dominated (Schiebinger, 2008).

In countries such as the U.S whereby there have been policy reforms aimed at benefiting women, the changes may have worked against African American women. Policies that conflict goals and also lack articulation may have been responsible for failiar of affirmative action agendas regarding African American women as a whole.

More men than women embark on third cycle programmes

Total proportion of women doctoral students has generally increased. Recent research shows that in Sweden, 49 per cent of the total of more than 17,000 doctoral stu­dents was women. Since three out of five undergraduate students are women, this means, in general terms, that men embark on third cycle programmes to a greater extent than women. This applies in all areas of higher education although Swedish University of social sciences records a different trend.

The greatest differences are in natural sciences, the humanities and theology. To some extent, women and men also pursue third cycle studies in differ­ent subject areas.  Approximately 24 per cent of new third cycle students are from foreign countries. If this group is excluded, the proportion of women commencing third cycle studies is higher.

Few women professors

Gender split is increasingly popular at higher levels in the academic hierarchy. At the highest point of an academic career the professorial level only 18 per cent of the professors are women. If the total proportion of women among newly appointed professors continues to increase at the same rate as in the past 10 years, it is estimated that 31 per cent of the professors will be women by 2030. In the humanities and social sciences, it is estimated that 43 per cent will be women. In the natural sciences knowledge area, on the other hand, it is estimated that the propor­tion of women professors will decline in the next few years, and will then be about 5 per cent. Similar developments are predicted in the technology knowledge area.

Gender divided labour market.

There are considerable differences between women and men in the type of education they choose, and their choices portend a future working life which, in many ways, will continue to be just as much subject to gender divisions as the current labour market unless something is done. Only four occupational categories in the 30 major occupational groups that cover 60 per cent of employees have an even gender split. The higher the level of education, the higher the average level of pay and this applies to both women and men. But, irrespective of educational standards, men are better paid than women. The greatest pay differences can be seen in groups with three or more years of higher education after upper secondary school.

Strong gender division in upper secondary education particularly in vocational        programmes.

Statistics on subject preference carried out in some schools in Europe clearly indicated that women and men chose, and continue to choose, different paths in upper secondary schools. Most pupils who complete their upper secondary studies in the building, electrical engineer­ing, energy and vehicle programmes are almost exclusively men (the propor­tions range from 94 to 98 per cent). The industry programme and the technol­ogy programme are also overwhelmingly dominated by men less than 16 per cent of those who complete these programmes are women (Schiebinger, 2008).

None of the programmes in which women predominate are subject to such strong gender divisions as these four male-dominated programmes, although the proportion of men in the handicraft and health care programmes is less than one sixth of the total. The child and recreation, food and aesthetics pro­grammes also have a high proportion of women (about 75 per cent). More programmes are dominated by women than the converse, but the gender bias is stronger in the male-dominated programmes.

More women than men apply for higher education, but a lower proportion of women is admitted.

Women constitute 60 per cent of the new applicants to higher education (applicants with no previous higher education studies) in the autumn of 2007, as compared with 40 per cent for men. This gender split has been stable in the past 10 years. The proportion of women admitted is lower than the proportion of men, however. To some extent, this difference is linked to education options (for the most part women are competing with other women). In the case of women with no previous higher education studies who apply for higher education in the autumn semester every year, approximately 53 per cent are admitted, compared with 58 per cent of the men. A quota system that favours men is also applied in the case of the most attractive higher education courses (for example medical training), involving the drawing of lots among applicants with the highest grades. The number of men and women admitted in this case is equal, but more women applicants have top grades the men are admitted on a quota basis (Alemán & Renn, 2002).

Presentation Of Findings

Although universities in the Nordic countries have been open to female stu­dents for more than 100 years, women are relative newcomers in the academic world. It is true that a few women were able to do research in nunneries, in family astronomical observa­tories in 17th century Germany, or at the royal court (Kelly & Slaughter, 1990) before any right to formal participation in studies at universities was enunciated. But for 900 years of the history of universities, women were excluded for 800 years purely on the grounds of their gender.

Although women opportunities to participate in higher education have a considerably shorter history than men’s, women now constitute more than half the student population, and more than half the number of graduates. Women have made considerably greater inroads into traditionally male domi­nated areas of higher education than men have in traditionally female domi­nated areas. We have witnessed a dramatic change, even if we still have a long way to go in many areas before the goal of gender equality is achieved.

Developments in higher education from a gender perspective in the late 1980s and early 1990s were described that although gender quality had increased, there were still serious deficiencies. The labour market still had strong gender divisions in the breakdown of different industries, levels of responsibility and occupational areas. And the work performed by women often had a low status. Young people’s gender-oriented choice of education programmes involved risks for continued divisions in the labour market.

Gender equality involves giving men and women equal opportunities, and the same freedom to choose their education and occupations. However gender equality also involves quality. The fundamental idea underlying the quality aspect is that the values, experience, views and living conditions for both sexes are to determine the norms and patterns that govern operations and the organizational structure, and the way in which processes in education and research are to be drawn up.

The quality concept may also involve soci­ety’s need to utilize the skills and abilities of both sexes to achieve the highest possible quality in research. For example, Sweden’s dependence on the outside world is increasing. If Sweden is to maintain its position in world markets, both industry and research need to have access to people who can take Sweden forward as a knowledge-intensive nation. Hence, it is also obvious that both women and men are needed for comprehensive developments in the various knowledge areas. Over the years, it has also been noted, in many contexts, that gender equality improves the quality of scientific and educational achievements (Alemán & Renn, 2002).

Conclusion

Gender equality worldwide in the education sector is perhaps not equal. As indicated in the various sections of this essay, gender segregated choices are a consistent feature of the entire education system. The labour market applies different conditions for women and men as regards careers and pay increases, both in the academic community and elsewhere.

This can hardly be an expression of free choices made by individual women and men. Instead, there are tenacious cultural and power structures which we all help to maintain, consciously or unconsciously. So in order to curb this, each nation and level must revise its structures while, at the same time, being aware of the overall picture. The main aim is to provide a factual basis for discussion among teachers, students, academic leaders and politicians.

The principal conclusions drawn include; a higher proportion of women than men embark on higher education. If foreign students are excluded, women in all higher learning institutions worldwide represent roughly 60 per cent of the total students. Also, the number of foreign students has increased significantly which applies particularly to new students and, to a lesser extent, to graduates. Currently, there are more foreign men than women who seek higher learning in Europe most of them coming from all other parts of the world. Also, a classification into broad subject areas that includes both general quali­fications and professional/vocational degrees indicates that women are a clear. Men dominate in the technology area approximately (71 per cent), and the gender split is even in artistic fields. Overall, women are clearly in the majority generally in short and medium duration programmes leading to a profes­sional/vocational qualification. But the gender representation is more even in the longer and more prestigious vocational programmes (Schiebinger, 2008).

Women are majority in a greater number of programmes, but overall there are slightly more male participants in Europe. Women who commenced their studies in the programmes leading to a vocational qualification take their degree within seven years to a greater extent than their male counterparts. The tendency for women to have a better student completion rate in higher education than men is not a new phenomenon. However, this has been the case for many years, and it is one of the reasons why the proportion of women graduates is higher than their representation as new entrants in higher education.

References

Alemán, M. A.  & Renn, K.A. (2002). An encyclopedia: Women in higher education. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-Clio.

Kelly, P. G. & Slaughter S. (1990). Education: Women’s higher education in comparative perspective, 1^st Ed. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Schiebinger, L. L. (2008). Social Science: Gendered innovations in science and engineering. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Gornick, V.  & Moran, B. K. (1971). Social Science: Woman in sexist society: studies in power and powerlessness?. New York: Basic Books.