Gender and Choice: Differentiating Options in Swedish Upper Secondary STEM Programmes

Autor/inn/en	Mellén, Johanna; Angervall, Petra
Titel	Gender and Choice: Differentiating Options in Swedish Upper Secondary STEM Programmes
Quelle	In: Journal of Education Policy, 36 (2021) 3, S.417-435 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Mellén, Johanna) ORCID (Angervall, Petra)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0268-0939
DOI	10.1080/02680939.2019.1709130
Schlagwörter	Educational Change; Gender Differences; Secondary School Students; School Effectiveness; STEM Education; Decision Making; Educational Policy; Freedom; Disproportionate Representation; Foreign Countries; Longitudinal Studies; Classification; Commercialization; Specialization; Sweden + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Bildungsreform; Geschlechterkonflikt; Sekundarschüler; Schuleffizienz; STEM; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Freiheit; Ausland; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Arbeitsteilige Spezialisierung; Schweden
Abstract	The extensive reforms of Sweden's education system during the last few decades have resulted in deregulation and individualization of schools. In upper secondary education, a distinct flexible course structure with multiple options was introduced in order to enhance school effectiveness and equity. This study departs in some of the previously outlined tensions in educational research between market interests and a 'free choice discourse' in relation to processes of differentiation. The purpose of this article is to investigate the ways gender patterns may be reproduced in relation to the emergence of multiple options and the re-organization of subject matters within Swedish upper secondary science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Our case addresses relations between discourses of choice and gender articulated in policy incentives, and large-scale enrolment patterns. Our results show how multiple options reproduce gender orders by 1) changing the system in accordance with a general market logic emphasizing 'freedom of choice', and 2) distinguishing predominantly gendered subject matters. Also, our results point to the importance of studying the STEM domain at a non-aggregated level to further understand the mechanisms behind gender gaps in STEM education. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01