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(OECD 2012b). Therefore a certain risk exists that Estonia<br />
is relying on its past indicators for its success and in the<br />
future will not be able to sustain its current high position.<br />
More important than the indicators of educational<br />
enrolment as a whole is the great gender imbalance,<br />
which starts already at the basic school level and continues<br />
on through vocational, secondary and higher education.<br />
Generally, many international indices consider<br />
it important to increase the enrolment of women. One<br />
of the targets of the EU education strategy titled Education<br />
and Training 2010 was to increase the percentage<br />
of women among graduates in the sciences. It probably<br />
is not surprising that Estonia placed first, exceeding the<br />
European Union average by 10%. In 2009, almost half<br />
(42%) of the graduates in the sciences were women (European<br />
Commission, 2011).<br />
Increasing the percentage of women in higher<br />
education is a general trend, which is characteristic of<br />
all the OECD countries and of almost all specialities.<br />
Of the cohort of 20-year-olds, 42% of the women and<br />
30% of the men are studying at university. Starting from<br />
2000, the percentage of women at university has steadily<br />
increased (almost 10% per year), which has resulted in<br />
there being 124 female university students for every<br />
100 male students in the European Union. Estonia is<br />
also the leader in this measure, with 156 women for<br />
every 100 men. As expected, the percentage of women<br />
also increased among the graduates of schools of higher<br />
education. If in Europe, on average, 55% of the total<br />
students are women, and among graduates, 59% are<br />
women, in Estonia and Latvia even 70% of the graduates<br />
of schools of higher education are women, which shows<br />
that there are more men among the drop-outs from<br />
schools of higher education (European Commission<br />
2009). The gender imbalance is also noteworthy by field<br />
of study. In six fields out of eight, women comprised<br />
half or more of the higher education school graduates.<br />
In Estonia, women comprise over 90% of the graduates<br />
in the educational and welfare services fields, which is<br />
the highest indicator in the EU.<br />
The situation in higher education is influenced by<br />
the imbalance at the lower levels of the education system,<br />
and this, in turn, affects the subsequent gender (a)symmetry<br />
in the workplace. The boys’ problems apparently<br />
already get their start in basic school, because, compared<br />
to girls, more boys limit themselves to only a basic education<br />
or even less. There are great differences between<br />
countries in this regard. If in Slovakia and the Czech<br />
Republic, a relatively small segment of boys and girls (ca.<br />
5%) drop out after completing basic school, in Estonia,<br />
Poland and Slovenia, the difference is almost double, to<br />
the detriment of the boys. However, one must recognise<br />
that in the period between 2004 and 2010, the situation<br />
in Estonia has improved, since the percentage of boys that<br />
drop out has decreased from 20% to 15%; about 8% of<br />
girls still drop out.<br />
Estonia along with Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Ireland,<br />
and the United Kingdom and a few more countries<br />
belong to the group of countries where more than 60%<br />
of the young people study at general secondary schools;<br />
vocational education is less popular. The fact that there<br />
are always more females in general education (in Estonia<br />
Figure 1.3.2<br />
The position of the EU member states related to the headline<br />
targets for the education in Europa 2020 as of 2011.<br />
Drop-outs (20- to 24-year-olds)<br />
Acquired a higher education (30- to 34-year-olds)<br />
EU 2020 target<br />
Percentage<br />
Ireland<br />
Luxembourg<br />
Sweden<br />
Finland<br />
Cyprus<br />
Great Britain<br />
Lithuania<br />
France<br />
Belgium<br />
Denmark<br />
Netherlands<br />
Spain<br />
Estonia<br />
Slovenia<br />
Poland<br />
Latvia<br />
Germany<br />
Greece<br />
Hungary<br />
Bulgaria<br />
Portugal<br />
Austria<br />
Czech Rep.<br />
Slovakia<br />
Malta<br />
Romania<br />
Italy<br />
EU-27<br />
Percentage<br />
Source: Eurostat 2013<br />
Estonia<br />
Slovakia<br />
Poland<br />
Denmark<br />
Slovenia<br />
Czech Republic<br />
Hungary<br />
EU-27<br />
Finland<br />
Austria<br />
Ireland<br />
Netherlands<br />
Switzerland<br />
Index<br />
40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50<br />
40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50<br />
Figure 1.3.3<br />
The number of female students for 100 male students in<br />
higher education (ISCED 5-6), 2010<br />
Source: Eurostat 2012<br />
90 100 110 120 130 140 150<br />
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />
33