Gender Inequalities in Higher Education. Evidence from the “Partium” Region

Abstract

In this paper, the vertical segregation in tertiary education is investigated by gender (the percentage of boys and girls in Bachelor’s and Master’s training is compared) first. Then the differences in social mobility are examined by gender in higher education. Finally, the acquired cultural capital of students is compared by gender. The research is based on new quantitative empirical research in a borderland Central - Eastern - European region, called “Partium”. Our results show that the vertical segregation at the two stages of tertiary education can not be detected, and the advantage of girls in participation is even larger in Master’s training than in Bachelor’s training in the “Partium” region. Furthermore, girls’ social mobility is higher at both stages of the training (but in Master’s training their advantage is slightly smaller). Finally, the girls’ acquired cultural capital is superior to the boys’ in accordance with the literature (but boys are in the lead in using ICT). Overall, our results show that boys are in a disadvantageous situation in tertiary education concerning several aspects.