educational permeability and gender segregation: case study evidence from bulgaria and switzerland...

Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation: Case Study Evidence from Bulgaria and SwitzerlandChristian ImdorfFranziska Bieri

Education to Work: (Un-) equal Transitions ConferenceSeptember 24-25, 2015

Sofia University

Introduction

Switzerland• Relatively high gender segregation in HE, especially in the

universities of applied sciences• Limited HE access for VET graduates, especially to universities

Bulgaria• Lower gender segregation in HE• BG grants HE access to VET graduates

Permeability of educational systems: Does it provide opportunities to change gender-typed career decisions ?

Reduction of horizontal gender segregation in education

Research Questionsa. What is the extent of vertical educational permeability from VET to

tertiary education? b. What are the effects of permeability on gender-typed educational

outcomes?

Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15

University of Basel 2

Research Background

- Initial vocational education (IVET) highly gender segregated (Estévez-Abe 2006; Niemeyer & Colley 2015)

- Gender segregation in education especially pronounced in countries with dominant IVET-systems (Reisel et al. 2015)

- Occupational decision-making during adolescence results in most gender-typed career decisions

- Permeability in educational systems may reduce horizontal gender segregation in education (Imdorf et al. 2014)



Research Background

- Norway : Permeability from IVET to HE seems to facilitate reorientation by males from male typed VET careers into gender mixed higher education (Imdorf et al. 2015)

- Universalistic educational systems (e.g. Norway) tend to be open, inclusive, without early tracking, and permeable, allowing for lasting agency in career development

Does permeability allow for transitions from gender-typed educational enrolment in IVET to less gender-typed enrolment in higher education ?



Educational System and Higher Education Sectors in Switzerland



UNI UTE/UoAS PET

IVET

Educational System and Higher Education Sectors in Bulgaria

(Kostova 2008)

IVET

UNIPET

Data

Bulgarian School Leaver Survey (2014)

•Nationally representative sample (two-stage cluster sampling)•Population: individuals aged 15-35, who left formal education no less than 1 and no more than 5 years preceding the survey •Respondents: 2103•Face-to-face questionnaire (education, employment, social background)

Swiss Youth Panel Survey (Transitions from Education to Employment TREE)

•Nationally representative longitudinal survey (Swiss PISA 2000 cohort)•Population: students, who left compulsory (9th grade) in 2000•Follow-ups 2001-2007 (yearly), 2010•Respondents (analysed sample): 3507•CATI (education, employment, social background)



Comparative Results - Permeability






CHBG


Table 3 BG Percent with Higher Education, by Secondary School Type

Table 3 CH Percent with Higher Education, by Secondary School Type




Table 4 BG Distribution of men/women across VET vs. GE with/without HE, in percent

Table 4 CH Distribution of men/women across VET vs. GE with/without HE, in percent



Permeability and Gender Segregation in Education: The Case of Switzerland

Summary Switzerland-Binary structure of Higher Education (Denzler 2014)-Relatively new vertical permeability IVET UoAS / UTE-Traditional transitions from IVET to PET-Negligible permeability from IVET to University sector

How does (non)-permeability from VET to Higher Education impact on gender-segregation of educational programmes?

Is gender segregation in IVET stronger than gender segregation in Higher Education?

Does gender segregation in Higher Education vary across HE sectors?




University of Basel 13 Sour

ce: S

KBF

2014

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41)

Fem

ale-

type

dm

ale-

type

dm

ixed

Higher Education: Proportion of women by field of study in Switzerland (2011)

Gender-type of Tertiary Programmes, by Tertiary Sector and Gender (Switzerland)



Women

Men

Male-typed: < 30% womenMixed : 30% - 70% women

Female-typed : > 70% women

Gender-type of Educational Programme, by Educational Pathway and Gender (Women)



/PET /PET

Gender-type of Educational Programme,by Educational Pathway and Gender (Men)



/PET /PET

Intermediate Results

SwitzerlandGender-segregation in Higher Education stronger in ‘applied HE fields’ compared to university sector

Gender-segregation stronger in VET compared to university sector University sector least gender-segregated

Women: Stronger gender-segregation in ‘applied HE fields’ & PET than in VET

Men: Gymnasium reduces gendered transition to HE

BulgariaConsiderable permeability between IVET and university sector



Next Steps of Analysis (Bulgaria)

How gender-segregated are educational programmes on upper secondary and on tertiary level in BG (compared to CH) ?

Does educational permeability in BG enable students from gender-typed IVET-programmes to move to less gender-typed university programmes ?

If BG HE programmes are less gendered than CH HE programmes, is this due to more permeability in the BG education system ?



Thank youfor your attention.

educational permeability and gender segregation: case study evidence from bulgaria and switzerland...

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