Gender and educational decisions in basic vocational training: discussions and experiences in Spain

Abstract

Basic vocational training (BVT) represents a new opportunity within the Spanish education system to reduce the school drop-out rate and ease the transition into the workplace. However, this educational route is highly male-dominated and presents a high degree of segregation by gender and pathways. It was therefore necessary to carry out a gender-based analysis and investigate the processes, options and reasons behind students’ decisions to opt for a particular professional category. To achieve this, we carried out 35 in-depth interviews at educational centres that teach BVT in the Valencian Community, Spain. Our main findings were that BVT is not only highly male-dominated, but that the female-dominated branches are few and far between, are still subject to strong stereotypes, enjoy less prestige and have fewer job prospects. Therefore, BVT and its impacts are far from gender neutral. In addition, this negatively influences future training and employment options and choices, especially for females, which obviously has a direct impact on their professional careers and life courses.