Gender Segregation in Estonian Vocational Education and Training Through the Eyes of Stakeholders

Abstract

In this paper we aim to understand how the discourse of [vocational education and training] VET stakeholders (educational administrators, school leaders and vocational teachers) reproduces and/or contests gender-typical occupational practices in VET. Drawing from interviews with VET stakeholders in Estonia, we found that, as a rule, teachers and heads of schools have noticed gender segregation both in society and in the context of their own school. However, it was typically not seen as problematic. While generally holding supportive views on gender balance in occupational fields and challenging gender stereotypes in society, the respondents' narratives tended to reproduce gender stereotypes via three different strategies: 1) attributing different abilities, dispositions and interests to male and female students and teachers; 2) emphasizing that female students were physically weaker; and 3) evoking the notion of the 'breadwinner' to explain and justify why fields occupied by male students and teachers were more paid more. We argue that VET stakeholders in Estonia do not fully acknowledge the gendered nature of VET institutions or their own role in shaping gender ideologies and practices in this context. In this paper we aim to understand how the discourse of VET stakeholders (educational administrators, school leaders and vocational teachers) reproduces and/or contests gender-typical occupational practices in VET. Drawing from interviews with VET stakeholders in Estonia, we found that, as a rule, teachers and heads of schools have noticed gender segregation both in society and in the context of their own school. However, it was typically not seen as problematic. While generally holding supportive views on gender balance in occupational fields and challenging gender stereotypes in society, the respondents' narratives tended to reproduce gender stereotypes via three different strategies: 1) attributing different abilities, dispositions and interests to male and female students and teachers; 2) emphasizing that female students were physically weaker; and 3) evoking the notion of the 'breadwinner' to explain and justify why fields occupied by male students and teachers were more paid more. We argue that VET stakeholders in Estonia do not fully acknowledge the gendered nature of VET institutions or their own role in shaping gender ideologies and practices in this context.