Gender Equality In The Romanian Educational System

Inside the education system at all its levels, including higher education, a gender balance should be observed and discrimination concerning women access to positions with high power of decision in schools and universities should not exist. The present study focuses on the presence of three phenomena: vertical segregation, horizontal segregation and the ‘glass ceiling’ in higher education institutions from Romania. These phenomena are often manifested in the public sector so we could assume their presence in the education system, too. The methodology of research consists of an exploratory study conducted using 2003-2017 data. The study revealed that the Romanian educational system is a feminine field as from the total number of teachers from all levels, women represent over 70%. The horizontal segregation inside the education system is present from two perspectives. First of all, the highest percentage of female teachers is met in primary and secondary-lower education institutions, where women are over-represented (over 90% and 70% in 2017). In the academic area, we could observe that the number of female professors is lower as in the pre-university level, even if it registered an increase from 42% in 2003 to 51% in 2017. In the academic area, a certain gender equality has been reached as both genders are almost equally represented. Women are over-represented in relatively lower status positions whereas men are concentrated in better-paid, higher-status positions (in academia) that hold greater influence in policy and decision-making. Gender segregation could be observed inside the academic area too, where the number of women lowers as the academic rank is higher (women are represented better as Assistants and Lecturers). The study revealed that women in this professional category from higher education level did not manage to break the ‘glass-ceiling’, as in 2018, from 47 public universities from Romania only in four, women occupied the position of Rector. Concerning the position of Dean, women managed to hold around 30% of these positions. The results showed the presence of vertical discrimination among higher education system and a gender imbalance in leadership positions in academia. If in public administration of Romania, gender equality has been reached at the central level, we could not assume the same for the education system, which is a feminine sector where women are well-represented on inferior levels and where, with higher positions, lowers the feminine presence.