MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? - Tartu Ülikool

NAISED JA MEHED HARIDUSELUS WOMEN AND MEN IN EDUCATION
IN EDUCATION, ARE WOMEN SPRINTERS AND MEN JOGGERS?
Rain Leoma
Introduction
Gender gap in education is an important topic in the contemporary western world. Historically,
men had better access to education and it was even more so at higher levels of education. But in
the modern world, this trend has changed. In Europe, the share of women in higher education is
showing a constant increase and, hence, questions arise as to why men are not able to compete
with women, and furthermore, whether the continuation of such trends will bring about a risk that
in the future a large number of men will be less educated than women. It is extremely positive
that women actively participate in educational life. But the problem lies in a modest participation
of men in the attainment of education compared to that of women. Figure 1 displays a change in
the share of men in formal education of Estonia after restoration of independence. Figure 1
reveals that the gender gap is not even at all of the levels – an increasingly bigger ratio of boys
are acquiring vocational education and an increasingly bigger ratio of girls are acquiring higher
education. In this article, we will look at men’s and women’s road to education and point out when
there occurs a gender gap in the attainment of education. At the same time, we try to find
reasons for certain trends and the relevant changes. Thus, the article gives an overview of
educational life in the post re-independence period. (Figure 1)
Preprimary education
A road to education usually starts from preprimary education i.e. from the kindergarten. This is
mostly the first point of contact with institutionalised education. No gender differences have been
observed among children acquiring preprimary education. The child’s sex has no influence on the
parents’ decision to take their child to a kindergarten for acquiring preprimary education.
However, the number of boys in all age groups in the kindergarten is usually slightly larger than
the number of girls (there are around 51–52% of boys), due to the fact that there are usually
more boys born than girls, which means that there are more boys in kindergartens i.e. at the start
of the path to education. This ratio starts to change at older ages and the percentage of girls on
the path to education (preprimary education -> basic education -> secondary education -> higher
education) increases.
A larger difference can be noticed at the moment of transition to primary school, i.e., among the
first graders. The share of 7-year-old boys who remain in a kindergarten steeply increases at that
point. Figure 2 shows, based on years 2009–2010, that the share of boys in the age group 3–6 in
kindergartens is around 51–52%, but rises to 69% and 74%, respectively, in the age group of
7-year-olds. This is caused by the well-known fact that boys’ development is somewhat slower
and they are kept in the kindergarten for a little longer. Even though the law does not differentiate
between sexes in the context of compulsory school attendance, it enables to postpone the start of
compulsory school attendance by one year, if considered necessary, and statistics indicate that
this option is used more often in case of boys. (Figure 2)
General education
At the start of the general education path, i.e. when starting to acquire primary education, there is
still a balance between boys and girls, although the number of boys in primary education remains
slightly higher than the number of girls. The share of boys remains unchanged over years in
grades 1–6, being at around 51–53%. This percentage persists until the end of basic school.
(See Figure 3)
A greater difference between educational paths of boys and girls is noticeable at the transition to
the gymnasium. In the gymnasium, the share of boys sharply drops compared to the basic school
MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? MAN’S HOME IS THE WORLD, WOMAN’S WORLD IS HER HOME? 107