1. Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation: Case Study Evidence from Bulgaria and Switzerland Christian Imdorf Franziska Bieri Education to Work: (Un-) equal Transitions Conference September 24-25, 2015 Sofia University

2. 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 Questions a.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 Basel2

3. 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) Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel3

4. 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 Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel4

5. Educational System and Higher Education Sectors in Switzerland Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel5 UNIUTE/UoASPET IVET

6. Educational System and Higher Education Sectors in Bulgaria (Kostova 2008) IVET UNIPET

7. 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 (9 th grade) in 2000 Follow-ups 2001-2007 (yearly), 2010 Respondents (analysed sample): 3507 CATI (education, employment, social background) Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel7

8. Comparative Results - Permeability Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel8

9. Comparative Results - Permeability Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel9 CH BG

10. Comparative Results - Permeability Table 3 BG Percent with Higher Education, by Secondary School Type Table 3 CH Percent with Higher Education, by Secondary School Type Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel10

11. Comparative Results - Permeability 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 Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel11

12. 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? Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel12

13. Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel13 Source: SKBF 2014 (p. 241) Female-typed male-typed mixed Higher Education: Proportion of women by field of study in Switzerland (2011)

14. Gender-type of Tertiary Programmes, by Tertiary Sector and Gender (Switzerland) Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel14 Women Men Male-typed: < 30% women Mixed : 30% - 70% women Female-typed : > 70% women

15. Gender-type of Educational Programme, by Educational Pathway and Gender (Women) Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel15 /PET

16. Gender-type of Educational Programme, by Educational Pathway and Gender (Men) Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel16 /PET

17. Intermediate Results Switzerland Gender-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 Bulgaria Considerable permeability between IVET and university sector Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel17

18. 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 ? Educational Permeability and Gender Segregation, Imdorf&Bieri, 25.09.15 University of Basel18

19. Thank you for your attention.