Women in Swedish Higher Education - A statistical overview

Författare

Anett Schenk

Summary, in English

The European Research Training Network ”Women in European Universities” investigates women’s career opportunities in higher education. In seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) women’s position and career perspectives within the systems of higher education are analyzed. Main focus of the project is the ”glass ceiling” that women encounter when they strive for top rank positions such as professorships.

This report is a result of the second working phase of the research Training Network in which a secondary statistical analysis of women’s position in higher education was conducted. This Training-Paper is concerned with the case of Sweden. The aim of this paper is twofold: Firstly, it will give an overview of the development of women’s participation in Swedish higher education. Secondly, it will trace statistical evidence for critical steps on the academic career ladder. This means showing in statistical terms where, on the academic career path, women are dropping out.

It is the contention of this paper that a useful investigation of women’s situation in academia needs an analysis of both the leaky pipeline in higher education and the attractiveness that academia has to society and future cohorts. Additionally, a Three-Level-Model is proposed in order to make the Swedish data comparable with data from other systems of higher education.

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