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Gender disparity gap in education widening

Christian Wenande
April 28th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

Considerably more women aged 30-35 completed a higher education in 2021 compared to their male counterparts

Women have really distanced themselves from the men recently (photo: Pixabay)

According to new figures from Danmarks Statistik, the gender disparity gap in education in Denmark has widened significantly in recent years.

The figures showed that 51.2 percent of women aged 30-35 completed a higher education in 2021 – 14.8 percentage points higher than men of the same age group.

The gap is considerably higher than in 2005 when the difference was at just 8.7 percentage points.

The gap has been particularly driven by far more women completing a higher education compared to 15 years ago.

In 2005, only 9.6 percent of women aged 30-35 had a higher education diploma – a number that reached 21.5 percent last year.

Meanwhile, the share of men in the same group also increased, but only from 9.5 to 15.9 percent.

READ ALSO: Denmark close to gender balance for parental leave 

Regional differences
Geography also plays a role and there are marked differences in the number of higher educations received depending on which area of the country people live in.

In Region Zealand, only 35.8 percent of men and 53.5 percent of women have completed a higher education degree – the lowest portion in the country. 

In the Capital Region meanwhile, the figure was at 46.1 and 61.9 percent. 

Danmarks Statistik said it could not rule out the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the widening gap.

(photo: Danmarks Statistik)

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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”