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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

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