Educational Systems and Gender Segregation in Education: A Three-Country Comparison of Germany, Norway and Canada

How do institutional settings and their embedded policy principles affect gender-typed enrolment in educational programmes? Based on gender-sensitive theories on career choice, we hypothesised that gender segregation in education is higher with a wider range of offers of vocational programmes. By analysing youth survey and panel data, we tested this assumption for Germany, Norway and Canada, three countries whose educational systems represent a different mix of academic, vocational and universalistic education principles. We found that vocational programmes are considerably more gender-segregated than are academic (e.g. university) programmes. Men, more so than women, can avoid gender-typed programmes by passing on to a university education. This in turn means that as long as their secondary school achievement does not allow for a higher education career, they have a higher likelihood of being allocated to male-typed programmes in the vocational education and training (VET) system. In addition, social background and the age at which students have to choose educational offers impact on the transition to gendered educational programmes. Overall, gender segregation in education is highest in Germany and the lowest in Canada. We interpret the differences between these countries with respect to the constellations of educational principles and policies in the respective countries.

Course of psychological variables in whiplash injury--a 2-year follow-up with age, gender and education pair-matched patients

This study evaluated the course of psychological variables during a 2-year follow-up in patients after common whiplash of the cervical spine. From a sample of 117 non-selected patients with common whiplash (investigated on average 7.2 +/- 4.2 days after trauma) a total of 21 suffered trauma-related symptoms over 2 years following initial injury. These patients (symptomatic group) were compared with 21 age, gender and education pair-matched patients, who showed complete recovery from trauma-related symptoms during the 2-year follow-up (asymptomatic group). Both groups underwent standardised testing procedures (i.e., Freiburg Personality Inventory and Well-Being Scale) at referral, and at 3, 6 and 24 months. In the symptomatic group during follow-up no significant changes in rating of neck pain or headache were found. Significant differences between the groups and significant deviation of scores over time were found on the Well-Being and Nervousness Scales. There was a lack of significant difference between the groups on the Depression Scale, indicating a possible somatic basis for changes in psychological functioning in the investigated sample. With regard to scales of Extraversion or Neuroticism, there were neither significant differences between the groups nor significant deviation over time. These results highlight that patients' psychological problems are rather a consequence than a cause of somatic symptoms in whiplash.

Gender and language in online job advertisements - a cross-cultural study

The aim of this project is to investigate the use of gender-fair language from a cross-linguistic perspective. Specifically, we are interested in whether the use of gender-fair language correlates with socio-economic rankings of gender equality and with structural features of a language. We decided to analyze online job advertisements, as they reflect common language use and can easily be compared across languages. Moreover, formulations in job advertisements have been shown to impact personnel selection via the way target groups are addressed and referred to. In the present study we examined to what extent job advertisements are formulated in a gender-fair way and how this correlates with factors such as language, culture as well as status and gender-typicality of the job advertised. The data consisted of job advertisements published online in four European countries which occupy different positions in socio-economic rankings of gender equality (World Economic Forum, 2011): Switzerland (10), Austria (rank 34), Poland (42), and Czech Republic (75). We randomly selected 100 job advertisements from four lines of business characterized by different proportions of female employees – steels/metals, science, restaurants/food services, and health care. The advertisements were analyzed with regard to the linguistic form of the job title and the remaining text; we also noted indicators of job status, reference to gender-typical traits, pictures of women/men and other information which might be relevant to the use of gender-fair language (e.g., equal opportunity policies). A first analysis of the data indicates that the phrasing of job titles is closely related to the gender-typicality of a profession. While mainly gender-fair forms are used in healthcare, masculine forms are used more often in the domain of steels and metals. Feminine forms only, however, are almost never used. Cultural differences as well as correlations with associated variables will be discussed.

Migrant Background and Higher Education Participation in Europe. The Effect of the Educational Systems

The main aim of this article is to shed light on the extent to which differences in higher education participation between people with and without a migrant background of low/higher social origin can be explained by two macro-level characteristics of national educational institutions: stratification of the secondary school system and provision of alternative access to higher education. General assumptions are that people with a migrant background of low social origin benefit in low-stratified secondary school systems and in systems that provide alternative access to institutions of higher education more than their native peers in the same social stratum, owing to primary and secondary effects of migrant background. Database is a pooled dataset of the five waves of the European Social Survey. Results of logistic multi-level analyses indicate that a low-stratified secondary school system improves the probability of people with a migrant background/low social origin attaining a higher education degree. On the other hand, a stratified secondary school system reduces their chances regarding this educational stage. The provision of alternative access to an institution of higher education improves their likelihood of becoming higher education graduates.

Individual and spousal education, mortality and life expectancy in Switzerland: a national cohort study.

BACKGROUND Household measures of socioeconomic position may better account for the shared nature of material resources, lifestyle, and social position of cohabiting persons, but household measures of education are rarely used. We aimed to evaluate the association of combined educational attainment of married couples on mortality and life expectancy in Switzerland. METHODS The study included 3 496 163 ever-married persons aged ≥30 years. The 2000 census was linked to mortality records through 2008. Mortality by combined educational attainment was assessed by gender-age-specific HRs, with 95% CIs from adjusted models, life expectancy was derived using abridged life tables. RESULTS Having a less educated partner was associated with increased mortality. For example, the HR comparing men aged 50-64 years with tertiary education married to women with tertiary education to men with compulsory education married to women with compulsory education was 2.05 (1.92-2.18). The estimated remaining life expectancy in tertiary educated men aged 30 years married to women with tertiary education was 4.6 years longer than in men with compulsory education married to women with compulsory education. The gradient based on individual education was less steep: the HR comparing men aged 50-64 years with tertiary education with men with compulsory education was 1.74 (1.67-1.81). CONCLUSIONS Using individual educational attainment of married persons is common in epidemiological research, but may underestimate the combined effect of education on mortality and life expectancy. These findings are relevant to epidemiologic studies examining socio-demographic characteristics or aiming to adjust results for these characteristics.

Different disparities of gender and race among the thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and hemolytic-uremic syndromes

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) represent multiple disorders with diverse etiologies. We compared the gender and race of 335 patients enrolled in the Oklahoma TTP-HUS Registry across 21 years for their first episode of TTP or HUS to appropriate control groups. The relative frequency of women and white race among patients with TTP-HUS-associated with a bloody diarrhea prodrome and the relative frequency of women with quinine-associated TTP-HUS were significantly greater than their control populations. The relative frequency of women and black race among patients with idiopathic TTP and TTP-associated with severe ADAMTS13 deficiency was significantly greater than their control populations. The relative frequency of black race among patients who had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) preceding TTP was significantly greater than among a population of patients with SLE, and the relative frequency of black race among patients with other autoimmune disorders preceding TTP was significantly greater than their control population. No significant gender or race disparities were present among patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy, TTP associated with pregnancy, or TTP associated with drugs other than quinine. The validity of these observations is supported by the enrollment of all consecutive patients across 21 years from a defined geographic region, without selection or referral bias. These observations of different gender and race disparities among the TTP-HUS syndromes suggest the presence of different risk factors and may serve as starting points for novel investigations of pathogenesis.

Posttraumatic growth in cancer patients and partners--effects of role, gender and the dyad on couples' posttraumatic growth experience

Little is known about factors influencing positive effects in couples facing a cancer diagnosis.