Women are underrepresented in many areas of education and the workforce. Scholars and policymakers have extensively analyzed the root causes of these disparities. This paper aims to investigate the gendered language used in university educational offers and to examine its potential impact on gender discrimination in educational studies. We built a dataset containing the learning outcomes of degree programs of Italian universities, using the online database Universitaly created by the Italian Government to support students in choosing their universities, and the website of each university. The dataset includes 92 Universities, with details on the educational offer of the last 10 years, comprising in total 21,331 Bachelor’s Degrees and 24,577 Master’s Degrees over the years. Preliminary findings indicate that while masculine language predominates in disciplines with higher male enrollment, this pattern does not hold true for their female counterparts.
The gendered wording of university studies: an exploration
Chiarello, Filippo;Spada, Irene;
2023-01-01
Abstract
Women are underrepresented in many areas of education and the workforce. Scholars and policymakers have extensively analyzed the root causes of these disparities. This paper aims to investigate the gendered language used in university educational offers and to examine its potential impact on gender discrimination in educational studies. We built a dataset containing the learning outcomes of degree programs of Italian universities, using the online database Universitaly created by the Italian Government to support students in choosing their universities, and the website of each university. The dataset includes 92 Universities, with details on the educational offer of the last 10 years, comprising in total 21,331 Bachelor’s Degrees and 24,577 Master’s Degrees over the years. Preliminary findings indicate that while masculine language predominates in disciplines with higher male enrollment, this pattern does not hold true for their female counterparts.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
