Despite the trend towards more equal numbers of female and male students in higher education, young women and men often choose different subjects to study. Gender-based stereotypes still influence choices in education, as well as parental views of what they expect from their children. These stereotypes discourage women's enrolment in fields traditionally regarded as "men's fields", and encourage girls to pursue fields that are traditionally seen as more suitable to women as mothers and caregivers. By the same token, these stereotypes largely discourage men to pursue fields that are seen as traditionally female, such as nursing. Gender-based stereotypes in school curricula, textbooks, and teachers' attitudes also affect a student's future choice in determining his/her field of study and occupation.
Some subject areas are still highly segregated according to sex. For example, all through the ECE region, women are more likely to choose fields such as humanities and arts, education and medicine (including nursing), while men are more likely to choose to study engineering, mathematics, natural sciences and computing. The greatest gender balance among graduates seems to be in legal and commercial studies.
The relatively new information and communication technologies may broaden and deepen existing educational and economic gaps between women and men. Currently, women are less likely than men to be employed in the ITC industry, and are more likely to lack the computer skills required for accessing jobs in the information and communication technologies. Moreover, even where women's access to the Internet is rising and their role as consumers is becoming stronger, women's presence in the ITC market as producers is still scarce.
Internet use within the ECE region varies greatly between countries and in some countries the gender gap in access to ICT is small. However, the gender aspect of the production and use of ICT in general is largely an unexplored issue in the region and requires further research. Various studies that have been made on women’s access to ICT have shown that among practical obstacles for women in Eastern Europe to accessing the Internet is poor infrastructure, while women in Northern Europe have emphasised lack of training. For women in the ECE region outside Western Europe and North America, the dominance of English on the Internet, privacy and security issues, the high cost of connectivity and difficulties in getting a phone line or repair has also been a hindrance to accessing ICT. These are obstacles largely shared by men.
Examples of policies in the region:
Norway: putting the subject of women and information technology firmly on the political agenda
