Italy: Gender Segregation and Higher Education : Student Access and Success

In recent years, Italy has changed profoundly with regard to areas like the organization of work, the structure of the family, and the idea of motherhood. Although lifestyles and the working world have changed, the country holds a very low position internationally in terms of equity, ranking 70th out of 149 countries according to the Global Gender Gap Report (WEF, 2018), and last among EU countries. OECD (2017b), ISTAT (2018), and Almalaurea (2009) data show a worrisome situation: women rarely choose to study STEAM subjects and are poorly represented in technical and scientific professions. The percentage of employed women in Italy is still much lower than that of men. Other critical areas of concern are wages, levels of participation in, and access to, highly qualified professions. The main elements contributing to this educational segregation of gender are often “invisible constraints,” prejudices and stereotypes, socially and historically assigned roles and models, and traditional patterns of study choices influence access to specific professional paths. As a result, educational and professional selfsegregation is often added to an imposed segregation. This chapter analyses the current situation in Italy and critically discusses recent data and research on the presence of women in higher education (HE) and in the job market.