Gender segregation in the employment of higher education graduates

Abstract

This article examines the employment and placement in the working life of Finnish higher education graduates (i.e. graduates from universities and polytechnics), focusing on gender equality. It reports a study on gender segregation in higher education and working life, considered in relation to Nordic gender equality policies. The data were gathered via a questionnaire administered to graduates in business and administration (n = 1067) and in technology (n = 1087), three years after their graduation. The results showed that men were able to secure permanent and full-time employment more often than women, and men achieved better correspondence between their degree and their employment. However, gender divergence manifested differently in polytechnics and universities; thus a higher (Master’s) university degree seemed to have a compensating influence on the effect of gender. Despite Nordic equality policies, female and male graduates were placed in the labour market according to tendences of gender segregation.