Gendered pathways into post-secondary study of science

This paper investigates gender segregation in science engagement by looking, via career preferences, at the gendered pathways of Australian youth into post-secondary science study. In particular, the author is interested in exploring gender differences relating to the take-up of the life and physical sciences. To investigate these issues, the author analyses data from the 2006 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY).

This research was funded through the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) fellowship program, which encourages researchers to use NCVER datasets to improve our understanding of education. An earlier paper investigated whether single-sex schooling affected gendered patterns in the uptake of science courses in Year 11 and science-related career plans.

Key messages

• On the whole, females are less likely to study a science qualification after leaving school than males.
• When looking at the physical sciences, the gap between male and female participation widens at the tertiary level compared with secondary school, with males five times more likely than females to study a physical science qualification.
• Regarding the life sciences, females are more likely than males to study a life science qualification at the tertiary level, but this gap is similar to that seen at secondary school.
• These differences remain after controlling for a number of factors, such as academic performance in science, having a parent employed in science, and the economic and cultural status of the family, suggesting that gender segregation in science is driven more broadly by a culture that links particular occupations to a specific gender.

While this research looks more broadly than the vocational education and training (VET) sector, the divide between gender and the physical and life sciences is also present in the VET sector.

Rod Camm
Managing Director, NCVER