Gender segregation in education

authored by

Irene Kriesi, Christian Imdorf

Abstract

Gender segregation in secondary and tertiary education affects young people’s further educational and occupational careers and occupational attainment. The phenomenon is thus closely linked with gender segregation in the labour market and social inequality. Furthermore, the persistence of gender segregation seems inconsistent with the dissemination of gender equity and the profound changes regarding educational attainment and women’s move into many formerly male-dominated occupations. Consequently, educational gender segregation has become a much-discussed topic in sociological research. This chapter will begin with a discussion of how gender segregation in education has been conceptualized and measured (section 2.1). Sections 2.2 and 2.3 summarize the patterns of gender segregation in secondary and tertiary education respectively. Section 3 discusses theoretical explanations, starting with the perspective of gender segregation as a result of rational choices (section 3.1). Section 3.2 focuses on culturalist perspectives. Section 3.3 discusses influences of macro-level opportunity structures, such as value systems and the structure of the education system and the labour market. Section 4 summarizes research on the labour market consequences of gender segregation. Section 5 concludes with a discussion of the main gaps in sociological segregation research.

Organisation(s)

Sociology Department

External Organisation(s)

Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET)

Type

Contribution to book/anthology

Pages

193-212

No. of pages

20

Publication date

30.08.2019

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Social Sciences

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 5 - Gender Equality

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788110426.00020 (Access: Closed)