Rebalancing the equality debate

Women are rapidly widening the gender gap at an undergraduate level.

Europe is still struggling to ensure that men and women have the same chances of success in higher education, and, despite long-standing initiatives to eliminate discrimination, women remain at a disadvantage in some respects. But as a report released this month shows, there is an area in which women lead men. It is one that, to date, has received far less attention from policymakers.

The Eurydice Network, which is co-ordinated by the European Commission and collects information on education systems and policies across Europe, has found that women’s access to higher education no longer seems to be a problem. Enrolment of female students across the EU’s 27 member states increased by 2% between 1998 and 2006, with the proportion of female graduates increasing even faster, by 4 percentage points on average. In 2006, 55% of students enrolled in higher education and 59% of graduates were women.

“This increase in the proportion of female graduates has not been seen as problematic in the vast majority of countries, primarily since the differences between the participation rates of women and men are not very big in most countries,” the Eurydice report observes.

Imbalance

But some analysts disagree. “This is a huge over-representation, especially considering that there are significantly more males in the population,” says Bahram Bekhradnia, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, a think-tank that produced a study last year on the gender balance in UK universities.

The situation in the UK is in line with the European average, with the proportion of women entering and completing first degrees gradually increasing. “If present trends continue, and in ten, 15 or 20 years’ time 70%-80% of the university population and of graduates are female, then it means that only very privileged males will go to university,” says Bekhradnia. As a consequence, many of the professions will become increasingly female. “This has fundamental implications for society as a whole.”

The perception that the gap is not that large is one reason why male under-representation gets little attention from policymakers. Another is a feeling, rarely stated explicitly, that it balances the discrimination that women still face beyond graduate level. Although women outnumber men at the graduate level, they were awarded only 44% of doctoral degrees across the EU in 2007. Even fewer women progress to become academics: in the same year, 44% of junior academic staff, 36% of mid-level staff and only 19% of senior staff were women.

“Although this can partly be explained by the fact that large groups of women entered universities and chose academic careers only relatively recently, this ‘glass ceiling’ for women may also be a result of the dominant masculine culture that exists generally in academia,” the Eurydice report says.

University attitudes

It is not clear why the proportion of male students is declining. Specific factors can be identified in some countries, but the trend is evident almost everywhere. “It’s not just a result of English policies or European social attitudes; it’s world-wide,” says Bekhradnia.

He thinks that the solution lies in schools. “What is needed is to get among the children at a very young age and start getting their attitudes attuned to going to university.” Understanding the reasons for the trend are important, but first it has to be taken seriously. “Even if you don’t understand properly what the reasons are, at least if you accept that it’s a serious problem you can have a hunch and start taking some action that will have an impact.”

The Eurydice report is one sign that the problem has been recognised at the EU level. Another is that reducing school drop-out rates has been made a priority in the Europe 2020 strategy. Although it does not directly address higher education, it will raise the profile of male educational choices. “Given that early school-leaving is a problem affecting boys more than girls, it is clear that we must take gender issues into account,” said Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner for education, when she launched the Eurydice report.

Ian Mundell is a freelance journalist based in Brussels