Fields of education, gender and the labour market

Abstract

There are gender differences in many fields of education: women are over-represented in Teacher training and education science, and in Health and welfare courses while men are over-represented in Engineering, manufacturing and construction. The fields of education with a larger share of female graduates are also those whose graduates have lower employment rates and lower earnings, while employment rates and earnings are higher in Engineering, manufacturing and construction, a field studied by only 7% of women. Even within the same field of education, employment rates and earnings are generally higher for men than for women, partly due to the different types of jobs and responsibilities men and women hold. For example, for those who studied Health and welfare women are more likely than men to work in nursing.