Gender gap in education. How society, economy, and culture influence educational choices of women and men in Poland

<jats:p>"This book focuses on two issues related to gender differences in education. The first is the advantage of females at the tertiary level, and the second is the underrepresentation of women in maths. This book analyses these phenomena in the Polish context. The first part of the work compares the educational pathways of women and men in the 20th century from a horizontal perspective, i.e. school levels. The comparison shows both women and men have been making different schooling decisions since the introduction of the universal and public education system in Poland after the World War II. Women were permanently more likely to choose secondary schools while men were more prone towards basic vocational schools. This difference was inherited from generation to generation and gave women an advantage in the secondary stage. Hence, when in the mid-1990s the system of higher education began to transform from the elite to the mass system, more females than males had matura and were allowed to enrol. As a result, women constitute more than a majority of students and about 60% of graduates. Based on the empirical material and previous studies, I explain the differences in gendered school decisions looking at their unprivileged position in the labour market (“hedge hypothesis”) and better adaptation to school culture. In the second part of the work, I address the issue of gender differences in educational achievements, particularly in mathematics. Although this subject plays a special role in the school system due to its relevance in economic progress and offer of attractive benefits, it is still overrepresented by males. The book explains this pattern by looking at the school achievements and psychological functioning of both genders in the school context. The analyses show that women with sufficient mathematical skills to pursue maths careers are more likely to avoid maths because, more than their male counterparts, they are negatively affected by the combination of psychological (including uncertainty of mathematical competences, fear of competition), social (stereotypes), and institutional factors (school tracking)."</jats:p>