Abstract
This chapter concentrates on the macro-level analysis of the position of highly educated women in the labour market of the EU-28, using aggregate indicators calculated from different existing secondary databases. The variables analysed include enrolment and graduation by educational level and field of study, demand and supply with respect to employment, participation in knowledge-intensive activities hierarchical status and gender pay gap. The analysis reveals the existence of gender segregation but confirms that it is less present among highly educated women. For example, the number of graduates at different tertiary education levels shows higher number of women than men at all levels. However, STEM subjects, along with academic career paths, remain highly overrepresented by men. The biggest instance of segregation is present when looking at gender pay differences.
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- 1.
According to Eurostat (2018f), ISCED is a statistical framework for organising information on education maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO ). It was developed in the mid-1970s and first revised in 1997. ISCED 2011 took into account the changes in educational systems over the last decade, mainly relating to the Bologna process in tertiary education, but also due to the expansion of educational programmes for very young children. ISCED 2011 has been implemented in all EU data collections since 2014. Compared to ISCED 1997 classification, which had seven levels of education, from level 0 to level 6, ISCED 2011 has nine educational levels, from level 0 to level 8 (tertiary education is more detailed) (see table as follows).
ISCED 2011 (data from 2014 onwards)
ISCED (data up to 2013)
Low education
Levels 0–2
Levels 0–2
Medium education
Levels 3–4
Levels 3–4
High education
Levels 5–8
Levels 5–6
- 2.
Percentage points, % points or p.p.
- 3.
The gender gap in tertiary education attainment is defined as the proportion of men having attained tertiary education minus that of women of the same age.
- 4.
The gender gap in tertiary education attainment is defined as the proportion of men aged 30–34 that have attained tertiary education minus that of women.
- 5.
In most EU countries there are A, B and C academic positions, with grade A positions being top academic positions equivalent to full professors (European Commission, 2016, p. 137).
- 6.
The employment rate is the proportion of the working age population that is in employment.
- 7.
The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force.
- 8.
The gender employment gap measures the difference between the employment rates of men and women for selected persons’ age.
- 9.
The gender employment gap examined here is defined as the difference between the employment rates, of tertiary educated men and women, of working age (20–64).
- 10.
An activity is classified as knowledge intensive if employed tertiary educated persons (according to ISCED 97 levels 5 and 6, or according to ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8) represent more than 33% of the total employment in that activity. The definition is based on the average number of employed persons aged 25 to 64 at aggregated EU-27 level in 2006, 2007 and 2008 according to NACE Rev. 1.1 at 2-digit, using EU Labour Force Survey data. See more at Eurostat Indicators on High-tech Industry and Knowledge-intensive Services, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/Annexes/htec_esms_an7.pdf.
- 11.
For more information about Nobel Prizes awarded to women see https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/nobel-prize-awarded-women-3/.
- 12.
The Gender Equality Index measures gender gaps between women and men. It is a composite indicator that measures the complex concept of gender equality and assists in monitoring progress of gender equality across the EU over time (European Institute for Gender Equality, 2017a, p. 3).
- 13.
The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO ) is one of the main international classifications for which ILO is responsible. ISCO is a tool for organising jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the job. The updated classification was adopted in December 2007 and is known as ISCO-08 (ILO, 2018b).
- 14.
The gender pay gap (GPG) is the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men. If positive, men on average earn more than women, while if negative, men on average earn less than women.
- 15.
Unadjusted or raw pay gap is a GPG calculated by comparing all male workers to all female workers regardless of dimensions (individual characteristics and contextual elements) which may explain part of the earnings difference, such as education, work experience, job type, type of employment, hours of work or industry. On the contrary, the adjusted pay gap is a GPG calculated by comparing all male workers to all female workers taking various dimensions that may explain part of the earnings difference into account.
- 16.
All GPG data originates from the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) that is conducted every four years in the EU for enterprises with 10 or more employees. It provides EU-wide harmonised structural data on gross earnings, hours paid and annual days of paid holiday leave, which are collected under Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1738/2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 1916/2000 regarding the definition and transmission of information on the structure of earnings.
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Pološki Vokić, N., Obadić, A., Sinčić Ćorić, D. (2019). Macro Perspectives on the Equality of Highly Educated Women: Focus on EU-28. In: Gender Equality in the Workplace. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18861-0_7
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