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Religiously-(un)affiliated more likely to pursue gender-atypical studies: Analysis of Finnish register data

Author(s): Weiqian Xia, Jan Saarela, Catherine Bowen, Vegard Skirbekk

Wednesday 14  |   14:40-15:00

Room: TP41

Session: Religion and changing religiosity in contemporary societies

Using Finnish administrative data, we examine whether being affiliated with a religion is associated with the pursuit of gender (a)typical fields of study. Specifically, we examine the extent to which native born men and women born between 1954-1975 who were unaffiliated or affiliated with a minority religion at age 17 studied natural science, ICT or engineering (male typical) and education, health and welfare (female typical) for the upper-secondary vocational studies and tertiary-level studies compared to their peers affiliated with the majority religion (National Lutheran Church). Based on logistic regression analyses, we find that, at the tertiary level, unaffiliated men and men who were affiliated with a minority religion more likely to study female-typical subjects. At the upper-secondary level, unaffiliated men are more likely to pursue female-typical studies, but men who were affiliated with a minority religion were just as likely to pursue gender atypical studies as men who were affiliated with National Lutheran Church. At both tertairy and upper-secondary-levels, unaffiliated women are more likely to pursue male-typical studies than those who were affiliated with National Lutheran Church, but not for women affiliated with minority religions. In addition, women who lived in a more secular municipality at age 17 are more likely to study male-typical subjects at both upper-secondary and tertiary levels. Men who lived in a more secular municipality are more likely to study female-typical subjects at the upper-secondary level, but it is not the case for the tertiary level. Individuals who have left the National Lutheran Church after age 17 are more likely to pursue gender-atypical studies, except for men studying tertiary-level female-typical subjects. Our results suggest that religious upbringing has enduring impact on individuals’ educational choice, enforcing the norm of traditional gender-typcial educational patterns, even in the highly secular context of Finland.