Social Class Background and Gendered Educational Choices

Conceptualizing social class in terms of both vertical and horizontal class divisions, the present study investigates how the impact of gender on educational choice varies by social class and whether certain class fractions are more gender-typical or -atypical in their choices than others. Higher education in large parts of the western world remains horizontally segregated by gender, despite the fact that the gender gap in educational attainment has been reversed. Previous research has shown that higher education is also segregated by social class. Within the research field of gendered educational choices the interaction between gender and social class background has received little attention, even though sociological theory gives reason to expect that individuals from lower social backgrounds are more likely to make gender-typical choices than individuals from higher social backgrounds. Furthermore, studies that do examine the relationship between gender and social class background has mainly focused on the vertical dimension of social class. By employing a Bourdieu-inspired class scheme that defines class both in terms of volume and composition of capital, and by analyzing Norwegian register data for birth cohorts 1987-1992, this paper examines the relationship between social class background and gender-typical and –atypical choices of higher education. Preliminary results show that focusing solely on the vertical dimension of social class background can conceal how the impact of gender on educational choice may vary within classes.