Covert gender inequalities in educational trajectories and transitions

Mirjana Ule

Summary:  This article originates from a thesis that is, today, developed by feminist theory, namely that the gender hierarchy in postmodern, post-patriarchal societies is being »renewed« and certainly not abolished. Although there is no doubt that institutional conditions in individual countries, conditions such as access to education, employment and economic autonomy, have a significant impact on the positions of girls and young women, their realization is still in the range of cultural factors such as »gender culture« and »gender arrangements.« Existing gender arrangements can be properly analyzed only if we consider existing power relations, both overt and, especially, covert. We have to take into consideration that gender arrangements in particular societies can seem very balanced although power relations between both genders are, in fact, unsymmetrical. And it seems that this is precisely what is happening in contemporary society. In the article, we will analyze covert mechanism, on the basis of statistical and research data, that have an impact on new gender discrimination throughout the process of childhood and early adult development. We will derive from the thesis that today’s discriminatory gender divisions of educational and occupational roles are based on invisible, »natural« everyday discriminatory practices and on gender-desensitized discourses, which are directed by the power of capital as the central motive of society.