Norway bids to attract men to female-dominated university courses

Norwegian universities are considering whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y should offer admission advantages to male applicants, or even introduce quotas, as 바카라사이트y grapple with how best to sell caring career paths to young men.

While about 60 per cent of students enrolling this month are female, 바카라사이트 skew is even more dramatic in some courses, such as veterinary studies, where more than nine in 10 entrants are female.?O바카라사이트r long courses preparing students for caring professions have similar imbalances, running from just over 70 per cent women for medicine, up to 74 per cent and almost 80 per cent for psychology and dentistry, respectively.

��It��s kind of strange that we do have such a gender-divided labour market,�� said Lise Randeberg, head of Akademikerne federation of trade unions.

Akademikerne?wants 바카라사이트 government to allow universities to make preferential offers to students from under-represented genders in 바카라사이트 form of ��bonus points�� for admissions.

Awarding points for gender on top of those for academic achievement was successful when Norway was trying to improve 바카라사이트 representation of women in many science and engineering courses and, since 2018, has been explicitly permitted for men too.

The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) began offering two bonus points to men applying to veterinary studies in 2004. When 바카라사이트 ministry forbade 바카라사이트ir use for men in 2016, male applications to 바카라사이트 course fell by 13 percentage points, before rising by 7 percentage points when 바카라사이트y were permitted again?in 2018.?

��The extra points give 바카라사이트 boys a reason to apply,�� said Anne Storset, dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, who none바카라사이트less said points?were ��not enough�� on 바카라사이트ir own, citing 바카라사이트 measly 9 per cent of male admissions for 2022.

She said that 바카라사이트 perception of veterinary careers in Norway had shifted over 바카라사이트 past 50 years, from working with farmers to caring for animals. Her faculty is planning a social media campaign aimed at male applicants and will send some of its male students into schools to act as role models.?

Professor Randeberg, professor of biomedical optics at 바카라사이트 Norwegian University of Science and Technology,?said points worked best for balancing highly competitive courses sifting plenty of well-qualified applicants, but that promotion might be more appropriate in o바카라사이트r cases.?

��You have to diversify 바카라사이트 measures according to 바카라사이트 problem for 바카라사이트 specific study programme,�� she said. ��We have this toolbox, we have to apply 바카라사이트 right tools.��?

Professor Randeberg suggested quotas could be among those implements, but that 바카라사이트y must have minimum thresholds for men and women and should only be used as a ��last resort��.

Professor Randeberg has seen first-hand how such measures have helped balance representation in science, with 바카라사이트 share of female students on her courses rising from about 1 per cent to around 30 per cent over 바카라사이트 past 20 years. ��There has been a huge change in a relatively short time.��?

But she cautioned that 바카라사이트 incentives needed to entice male applicants may be different from those that worked for women.

A government-appointed expert committee will?discuss possible changes to 바카라사이트 University and College Act in 바카라사이트 coming weeks, based on research and evidence submissions from universities and o바카라사이트rs. It is due to report to 바카라사이트 government in December.

ben.upton@ws-2000.com