Figures from UHR 3: Students of the minority gender more likely to experience discrimination
The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) has examined how students of the minority gender—within fields of study characterized by a significant gender imbalance—perceive their education and study environment compared to students of the majority gender.
The report is based on results from Swedish students who participated in the European survey Eurostudent 8. A total of 7,300 Swedish students responded to the survey.
The study examined the fields of health and medical care, social work and care services, and technology and the technical industry
Two of these fields—health and medical care, and social work and care services—show a significant overrepresentation of female students, while one field—technology and the technical industry—has a clear majority of men. Study programmes in these three fields are offered by the majority of the country's higher education institutions and include training for professions such as nurses, social workers, and engineers.
The consistent trend for both women and men when they constituted the minority gender in their field of study was a significantly higher incidence of discrimination across the three examined areas.
The report also shows that women in technical study programmes did not feel—to the same extent as men—that their teachers motivated them to do their best. Men in health and medical care were more likely than women to consider dropping out of their studies. Men in social work and care services were less likely to believe that their education prepared them well for the labour market and were significantly less likely than women to recommend their programme to others.
Study programmes in the three areas examined lead to clearly defined professions. This may explain why students in these fields were less likely to consider dropping out of their studies compared to respondents across all higher education fields. These professions are also in high demand, with favourable labour market prospects.
Figures UHR 3 - Study environment in shortage occupation progammes with gender imbalances (pdf)
About the report
This is the third report in UHR’s series based on data regarding various aspects of the activities managed by the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR).