ABSTRACT

Women are now the majority in undergraduate studies in many higher education systems, yet men and women tend to enrol at different rates in different fields of study and institutions. As a result, gender segregation is a prominent feature of contemporary higher education. Most previous studies have focused on gender composition in fields of study. In contrast, we considered college-level study in the Israeli context and asked whether composition is related to on-time undergraduate degree completion. By merging census data with other information, we followed students from high school into higher education and distinguished those who completed their undergraduate degree within the allotted timeframe from those who did not. Our results indicate that for both men and women, studying in an institution with a higher percentage of men is associated with reduced chances of on-time graduation, after controlling for socioeconomic background, previous achievement, field of study and college selectivity. This suggests that equalizing gender ratios in male-dominated institutions, which are often technology-oriented, will benefit both women, as they will enter lucrative technological fields of study, and men, who will otherwise suffer the disadvantage of attending institutions with lower chances of on-time graduation and possibly a less positive learning climate and study culture.

摘要

现在，在许多高等教育系统的本科学习中，女性占多数，但男性和女性在不同的学习领域和机构中的入学率往往不同。因此，性别隔离是当代高等教育的一个突出特点。以前的大多数研究都集中在研究领域的性别构成上。相比之下，我们考虑了以色列背景下的大学水平学习，并询问作文是否与按时完成本科学位有关。通过将人口普查数据与其他信息相结合，我们跟踪了从高中到高等教育的学生，并将在规定时间内完成本科学位的学生与未完成本科学位的学生区分开来。我们的研究结果表明，无论是男性还是女性，在控制了社会经济背景、以前的成就、学习领域和大学选择性之后，在男性比例较高的机构学习与按时毕业的机会减少有关。这表明，在男性主导的机构（通常以技术为导向）中实现性别比例的平等，将有利于女性，因为她们将进入利润丰厚的技术研究领域，而男性则将因进入机会较低的机构而处于劣势。准时毕业以及可能不太积极的学习氛围和学习文化。