Category: Study on Official registrations
Area: Stereotyping, Gender inequality
Place/Country: Denmark
Date: The registration goes from 1996 to 2022
Institutions involved:
- All Danish educational institutions
- The Ministry for Development and Research
Target group: All people who have applied for an education as first priority in Denmark in the period from 1996-2022
Goals / Objectives /Aims:
From the research questions:
- To analyse the differences and development in the gender inequality
- To identify educations with the biggest inequalities
- To identify the period for eventually changes in inequalities
Content / Structure / Description including strengthening action competence
In Denmark, there is something called the Common Application for vocational and higher educations. It is administered by the Ministry of Research and Education and is mandatory for all educational institutions offering this type of education.
The scheme has been operating for many years, so there are data from many years ago (the website has data from 1996).
It is possible to distinguish between applicants on the basis of their age, gender and access basis (qualification). It is also possible to look at the admitted students and the potential students who have applied for the respective education programmes as their first choice.
In this study, it was decided to use data based on the applicants’ first priority and their gender. In addition, four years have been selected so that it is possible to examine the development in the gender distribution on the individual education.
The data material consists of four spreadsheets with data from 700-850 of education programmes across Denmark. There is a line for each educational programme, so in addition to being able to analyse the development in the individual programme, it will also be possible to examine differences in the gender gap based on different geographical areas in Denmark (big city versus small towns, etc.). For medical studies, the data material thus consists of 3-4 lines, because this programme is offered in very few places, while the nursing programme consists of 20-24 lines from just as many educational institutions.
Results / Responses → Resulting Competences:
The analysis is based on data from the medicine and nursing studies.
An extract from the database provides the following data on the nursing education:
Table 1.
| Gender | Total | ||
| Year | Men | Women | |
| 1996 | 174 | 2686 | 2860 |
| 2006 | 148 | 2765 | 2913 |
| 2016 | 407 | 5036 | 5443 |
| 2022 | 276 | 3100 | 3376 |
| Total | 1005 | 13587 | 14592 |
The following can be read from the table:
In 1996, there were a total of 2,860 applicants with the nursing education as their first priority. Of these, 174 were men and 2686 women. In 2006, the figures were similar, with slightly fewer men with this education as their first priority. The total number of applicants with this programme is also only slightly higher than ten years earlier.
In 2016, something is happening. There is a significant overall increase in the number of applicants (over 50%) and the share of men also seems to be proportionally higher. And by 2022, there is another change in the pattern of applications. There is a general slowdown in applications for this programme.
In order to identify possible changes in percentage distributions, these distributions are calculated based on the figures presented above.
Table 2.
| Percent distribution | |||
| Gender | Total | ||
| Year | Men | Women | |
| 1996 | 6,1% | 93,9% | 100,0% |
| 2006 | 5,1% | 94,9% | 100,0% |
| 2016 | 7,5% | 92,5% | 100,0% |
| 2022 | 8,2% | 91,8% | 100,0% |
| Total | 6,9% | 93,1% | 100,0% |
The table shows that, in general, over a 25-year period, there is a large gender imbalance in terms of first priority applications to nursing education. Over 90% of applicants with nursing as their first priority are women. However, there is a trend towards a higher proportion of male applicants as we get closer to the present. The trend consists in a movement from 5.1% to 8.2% of applicants with nursing as their first priority are male.
By applying Chi-Square test, it is examined whether the difference is due to chance or whether the difference is systematic and therefore a trend in the field can be recognised.
The result of the Chi square test is 0%, which indicates that there is no probability that the observed distribution is random. There is therefore a correlation between the year and the observed gender distribution.
As the percentage of men is increasing over the years, this trend is confirmed.
An extract from the database provides the following data on the medical doctor education:
Table 1.
| Gender | Total | ||
| Year | Men | Women | |
| 1996 | 1027 | 1236 | 2263 |
| 2006 | 1121 | 2055 | 3176 |
| 2016 | 1083 | 2125 | 3208 |
| 2022 | 1029 | 2615 | 3644 |
| Total | 4260 | 8031 | 12291 |
The following can be read from the table:
In 1996, there were a total of 2,236 applicants for the medical education as first priority. Of these, 1027 were men and 1236 women. By 2006, the figures had changed significantly, as there were almost 50% more applicants with medical studies as their first priority, and the increase was almost all women! The 2016 figures are generally similar to the 2006 figures – a slight increase in the total number of applications, a slight increase in female applicants and a slight decrease in male applicants. In 2022, there is again an increase in applications for the study, with just over 400 more people having the education as their first priority. The increase is mainly among women, and there is even a slight decrease among men.
In order to identify any percentage breakdowns, these breakdowns are calculated on the figures presented above.
Table 2.
| Percent distribution | |||
| Gender | Total | ||
| Year | Men | Women | |
| 1996 | 45,4% | 54,6% | 100,0% |
| 2006 | 35,3% | 64,7% | 100,0% |
| 2016 | 33,8% | 66,2% | 100,0% |
| 2022 | 28,2% | 71,8% | 100,0% |
| Total | 34,7% | 65,3% | 100,0% |
The table shows that over a 25-year period there has been a major change in the gender distribution in the medical education. Whereas in 1996 the applicants were fairly evenly distributed between the genders, there are more than two thirds women among the applicants in 2022. The major shift occurs in the period from 1996 to 2006, when the number of applicants increases by 50% and this increase is exclusively due to the number of women.
By applying Chi square test, it is examined whether the difference is due to chance or whether the difference is systematic and therefore a trend in this area can be identified.
The result of the Chi square test is 0%, which indicates that there is no probability that the observed distribution is random. There is therefore a clear correlation between the year and the observed gender distribution.
As the percentage share of men has decreased sharply over the years, this trend is confirmed.
Link to the source:
General website:
