Lesley Irving-Women in education and employment-the Scottish context

Women in Education & Employment

The Scottish Context

Lesley Irving

Equality Unit

Scottish Government

Global Community Links

Gender Differences

•Throughout the UK, girls are more likely to take arts, languages and

humanities subjects

•Boys are more likely to take geography, physical education and

information technology


Girls in Education

•Scottish Survey of Achievement 2005 – 2009

•2009 – girls had better reading attainment than boys

•2008 – limited evidence of boys performing better in mathematics

•2007 – boys out performing girls in some areas of science in latter primary and early secondary


Curriculum for Excellence

•Greater emphasis on all pupils to be successful learners, confident individuals,

responsible citizens and effective contributers

•‘Career Box’ – resource aims to get 3 – 18 year olds questioning gendered

assumptions about jobs women and men do


Be What You Want

•Materials for schools challenging gender stereotypes

•Produced by Close the Gap parternship

•http://www.bewhatyouwant.org.uk/be-what-you-want.html


Women in Education

•In 2009/10 55% of all college students in Scotland were female

•In the UK, women’s representation is higher than men’s in most HE

subjects, including medicine and law


Women in Science

•Women are more highly represented in some science subjects – biological

sciences, veterinary sciences and medicine

•Men still have higher representation in engineering and the physical sciences


Women in Employment

•Royal Society of Edinburgh/Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser – Lifting the

Barriers

•Estimated that increasing participation of women in UK labour market could be worth £15 - £23bn (1.3 – 2% of GDP)


Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

•Women in STEM could account for at least £2bn (Royal Society of

Edinburgh/OCSA)

•Strategy to attract and retain women into STEM subjects


Occupational Segregation

•Barrier to prevent women achieving potential in labour market

•Contributes to pay gap

•In Scotland 7.2% in 2010, down 4.7% since 2007

•In UK 10.2% in 2010, down 2.2% since 2007 (ASHE, using median figure)


Government Action

•Close the Gap partnership

•Support for Scottish Women’s Resource Centre for women in SET

•Occupational segregation as Ministerial gender equality priority - reports

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/07/01154459/0
