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Does UK Higher Education Discriminate Against Women?

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  • D Leslie

Abstract

Using a sample of 2.3 million observations on applicants to UK Higher Education institutions from 1996-2001, the paper explores whether the selection process into Higher Education is discriminatory. The answer is no discrimination, even though women are better qualified and are less likely to be offered a place. The lower tier Higher National Diploma sector is a key issue because women (excluding nursing) are less likely to undertake these courses, which are `male orientated'. The policy conclusion is that to encourage less well-qualified females to undertake Higher Education, more appropriate provision is necessary that recognizes the reality of subject gender segregation.

Suggested Citation

  • D Leslie, 2004. "Does UK Higher Education Discriminate Against Women?," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 9(2), pages 51-68, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eis:articl:204leslie
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    1. F. L. Jones, 1983. "On Decomposing the Wage Gap: A Critical Comment on Blinder's Method," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 18(1), pages 126-130.
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    3. Arulampalam, W. & Robin A. Naylor & Jeremy P. Smith, 2002. "University of Warwick," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 9, Royal Economic Society.
    4. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    5. Arulampalam, Wiji & Naylor, Robin A. & Smith, Jeremy P., 2005. "Effects of in-class variation and student rank on the probability of withdrawal: cross-section and time-series analysis for UK university students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 251-262, June.
    6. Dolton, P J & Makepeace, G H, 1986. "Sample Selection and Male-Female Earnings Differentials in the Graduate Labour Market," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 317-341, July.
    7. Derek Leslie, 2003. "Using success to measure quality in British higher education: which subjects attract the best‐qualified students?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 166(3), pages 329-347, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Derek Leslie, 2005. "Why people from the UK's minority ethnic communities achieve weaker degree results than whites," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6), pages 619-632.

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