ART 10001 A2

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Swinburne University of Technology *

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Arts Humanities

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ART10001 Assignment Cover Sheet Student Name: Ayodya Allage Dona Student ID: 103528929 Email Address: 103528929@student.swin.edu.au Phone Contact: 0478356077 Unit Code and Name: ART10001 Assignment Title: Participation in higher education essay Tutor’s Name: Kythera Date of Submission: 5 October 2022 Word Count: 975 words I declare that ( the first four boxes must be completed for the assignment to be accepted ): This assignment does not contain any material that has previously been submitted for assessment at this or any other university. This is an original piece of work and no part has been completed by any other student than signed below. I have read and understood the avoiding plagiarism guidelines at http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ltas/plagiarism/students.htm and no part of this work has been copied or paraphrased from any other source except where this has been clearly acknowledged in the body of the assignment and included in the reference list. I have retained a copy of this assignment in the event of it becoming lost or damaged. (optional) I agree to a copy of the assignment being retained as an exemplar for future students (subject to identifying details being removed). Type your name below if you agree to the above: Ayodya Allage Dona 1

Participation in Higher Education Essay – Is Australia meritocratic? The higher education in Australia is not meritocratic. Rather is dependent on many other demographic factors such as gender, ethnicity and patterns such as the type of university or the type of course a child is enrolled. This essay will argue that the Australian higher education system is not meritocratic as is evidenced by the unequal number of women enrolled in STEM subjects in university. It is also discussed how gender stereotypes, public/private divide and gender socialization could lead to this argument. Gender stereotypes is a theory where males and females are labelled into certain traits and possessions (Denmark & Paludi, 2008). Males are labelled as agentic while females are labelled as expressive or communal (Doube & Lang, 2012). According to (Gilbert et al, 1998) women are seen as to be more gentle, emotional, devoted whereas men are viewed as more competent and independent. Self-confidence and accomplishment are seen as key indicators in men, whereas care and warmth in women (Byrnes, 1999). When considering the higher education sector in Australia, it is a common factor that females have maintained a higher percentage of 34.2% in completing a bachelor’s degree than males (28.3%) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018). However, majority of females have engaged in female-dominated degrees such as education, humanities and social sciences, and less in STEM subjects. This result males being dominated in computer science, technology after they graduate. According to the (Australian Government Department of Education, 2021) in 2017, the top 10 career desires for Australian girls aged 14-15 years have been the traditional female gendered roles in teaching, beauty and nursing. Whereas the top 10 boy’s career aspirations have been to become doctors, engineers and ICT professionals. In 2011, the Australian STEM workforce comprised of 72% men and only 28% women. While in 2014, women were awarded less than half (32%) of the STEM qualifications for men (68%). Since their young age, the children were influenced and motivated to follow a particular career path according to their gender (Ellemers, 2018). Traditional stereotypes of what ‘male’ and ‘female’ careers (for example, female nurses/ male medical practitioners) have controlled their attitudes toward attaining a particular gender-non-dominant job. Strong feelings of anxiety and less self-confidence of females towards STEM subjects, despite having the same capability as boys is also another facet of gender stereotype. This may also happen because of less female role models to guide females to work towards STEM subjects. Furthermore, 2

according to research undertaken by Professor McDonald Christine of Griffith University Australia (McDonald, 2016), has mentioned that there has been an underrepresentation of women in the STEM professions. The main reason is because high school teachers encouraging boys to be engineers, doctors, scientists, while encouraging girls to be in childcare, teaching, nursing and business professionals. It is therefore clear how gender stereotypes act as a barrier to meritocracy. Gender socialisation is another theory which leads to the lower participation of women in STEM subjects. Gender socialisation is the process of learning gender-appropriate attitudes and behaviours (Chafetz, 2006). It means children learning about the societal expectations and viewpoints associated with boys and girls. Kindergartens reinforce this theory inadvertently through male toys and female toys (Centre of excellence for early childhood development, 2014). Educators provide the young children with toys stereotypic of their gender. For example, gives girls female toys like dolls, kitchen sets and princess dresses, whereas for boys give male toys like cars and legos. Even parents expect different interests, perspectives and etiquettes from boys and girls by giving advice on what is suitable for boys and girls via remarks and comments. Additionally, another significant facet is a school’s hidden curriculum, which implicitly form different norms of masculinities and femininities across the curriculum (Stromquist, 2007). For example, having identified boy’s subjects, peer cultures and sports (Connell, 1996). In 2021, women were more likely to complete their higher education in commerce, management, health and education fields, with a percentage of 53.7% in natural sciences, while men plausibly have completed qualifications in engineering, computer science, architectural degrees having a percentage of 90.2% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018). It should be clear by now how gender socialisation challenges the perception of Australia’s higher education system being meritocratic. Public/private divide is another stressing theory which leads to a lower female participation rate in STEM subjects in Australia. This implies that children from their early years are taught to be bound to cultural norms and traditions when associating with families, work, politics and other factors like motherhood and privatisation (Marginson, 2007). This theory lays an emphasis on how men are dominated and reflected in public spheres of work and politics whereas females to be associated more with families and home. (Boyd, 2007) suggests that women should not get involved in outside-home work environments because they are bound to take care of their children and family by staying at home, and only men 3

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