© European Communities, 2009
Women today form the majority of university students but few stay on to become professors or reach other higher academic positions. This “leaky pipeline” phenomena is most often associated with science and technology fields but also concerns research positions in the private sector.
What causes this steady attrition of women? A report by the European Commission suggests that women may drop out at the beginning of their careers due to lack of support, role models and mentorship. At later stages, women abandon their work mainly because they find it too hard to balance career with personal life. Flexible working arrangements are proposed at some places, but women taking advantage of these benefits are often seen as less committed to the job.
Women also often find a “chilly climate” at higher levels with unequal opportunities, isolation and exclusion due to the usual clichés and stereotypes of a “man’s world”.
What is the situation in your country? How can the “leaky pipeline” be fixed?
Source: Women in science and technology
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Language education for Dutch-speaking adults
The UNESCO Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2009 shows that illiteracy and low literacy rates are not confined to poor countries. According to the report, in the Netherlands, some 1.5 million adults are classified as functionally illiterate, roughly 1 million of them native Dutch speakers. In metropolitan France, 9% of adults of working age had attended school in France but had literacy problems.
UNESCO suggests that meeting the lifelong needs of youth and adults needs stronger political commitment and more public funding.
How big a problem is illiteracy in your country? What can schools, governments and civil society do to remedy the problem?
Source: 2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report Summary
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Classwork at the San Alfonso Public School, near Santiago, Chili
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The Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2009 by UNESCO suggests that countries continue to make progress toward gender parity in school enrollments, but full gender equality is proving more difficult to achieve. Full gender equality is not just a question of parity in attendance numbers.
According to UNESCO, girls in many countries are catching up or surpassing boys in achievement test results at the primary and secondary levels, even in the maths and sciences. Yet, at the tertiary level, some subject areas remain “male domains”, especially in science and engineering. In half the countries with data, women account for more than two-thirds of students in fields long considered ‘feminine’, such as education, health and welfare.
Why is there such a difference in educational outcomes? UNESCO suggests that how education systems are organized, whether teachers treat girls and boys differently in the classroom, and sexual stereotyping in textbooks all play a role.
What is your experience from your country?
Source: 2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report Summary
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