Sweden: Gender gap widens in education, economically and politically

“Society has never been as women-friendly as it is now,” says Lovisa Broström, who has a PhD in economic history and is a senior lecturer at the University of Gothenburg. 

She recently read an article in the Financial Times about how young British women earn more than their male counterparts and also have a higher level of employment. This made her think – “this is a historic shift, which would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago”.

She calls the development groundbreaking, not least in Sweden and the other Nordic countries, which she considers to be the best in the world when it comes to gender equality. 

“We see the same trend across the Western world and also in countries elsewhere where women are not being held back. Women are seizing opportunities and are increasingly moving into male arenas.

“Many countries have actively invested in women and encouraged them to ‘make your mark’ and ‘get an education’. This has had results,” says Lovisa Broström.

In the 1980s and 90s, the number of universities and higher educational institutions grew, and student loans had already made it economically easier to study. But social developments have benefited women in other ways too.

Political decisions around issues such as parental leave and preschools have made it easier for women to combine family and work. There is also a large labour market in healthcare, education and social care that recruits women. 

More women-dominated occupations, like medical doctors and nurses, have also seen a bigger wage increase lately.

“Women have gained quite a lot, but if you look at the proportion of top leaders in listed companies, for instance, there is still a glass ceiling. Sweden also still has one of the most gender-segregated labour markets in the world.

“So even though women have taken great strides in several areas in the past decades, they are in a majority among those on sick leave, they do most of the homework and are still victims of sexualised violence and abuse,” she says.

A masculinisation of poverty

Lovisa Broström’s research centres on welfare, poverty and class. She has conducted research on recipients of social assistance and found that the most common household type receiving social assistance in recent years was native-born men.

In a different report, she and her colleague Birgitta Jansson studied the group of people who work but remain poor, often called the “in-work poor”, between 1987 and 2016. This group changed over those 30 years. 

In 1987, it was made up mainly of single Swedish-born women. In 2015 the majority were unmarried foreign-born men.

“There has been a masculinisation of poverty and men are lagging behind. Men earn more on average but experience a loss in status despite of this. And women are getting ever closer to what has so far been male privileges.

“This can create fear among many men, a “fear of falling”, even if they are doing well. Or they romanticise about a bygone era,” says Lovisa Broström. 

Education gap widens

One of the explanations why women have made greater economic and employment progress than men in recent decades is young girls' strong academic performance.

For a long time, men had better access to education and higher studies, but now the trend has reversed in large parts of the world. Women achieve better grades than men and are more likely to pursue university and higher education.

This has been the case for a long time, but the gap is widening. Across Sweden, there are generally 14 per cent more women with post-higher secondary education, and the differences are particularly pronounced in rural municipalities. This is creating a growing education gap between men and women, which impacts society as a whole.

“More women get an education and advance in the labour market, and this impacts both girls and boys. 

“Men and women often choose different higher educations, and this is of economic benefit to society – especially when the labour market is structured with a capital-strong production and with a large public sector.

“Yet the size of the labour market becomes smaller for people with lower levels of education,” says Martin Nordin, associate professor at the Department of Economics and Lund University.

The widening gap is caused by a range of different factors.

“There has been an expansion in education for all, but girls seem to be more motivated. There is also a larger group of boys who fail to meet educational goals early on and leave primary school without grades, which may be due to boys maturing later.

“Another factor contributing to the differences is that women continue to pursue education even after the age of 30," says Martin Nordin.

Old norms being challenged

In a recently published report, he examined the consequences of what is known as the reversed education gap. Previously, the gap favoured men, but now it favours women.

What does this mean for partnerships, family formation, and employment opportunities? And what impact does the education gap have on voting behaviour?

The education gap basically challenges traditional norms. Men are no longer the family’s obvious main provider and men who lag behind struggle more to find a partner, have children less often and access a narrower labour market.  

There is a risk of growing resentment among those who explain the development by claiming that feminism has taken opportunities away from men, based on the idea that there is a fixed pie to be divided.

“When the differences in education grow, you get problems in many areas, including ideologically – how people view the world and how they vote.

“When women have a higher education, their interest in the rightwing populist Sweden Democrats falls. Men with lower education go in the opposite direction and there is clear evidence that the education gap leads to more men voting SD,” says Martin Nordin.

Through his research, he wants to highlight the fact that an education gap exists, that it is growing and that it impacts different social aspects.

“First and foremost it impacts family formation, which in the longer run impacts demography and labour shortages. I don’t yet see a backlash against gender equality although it is sometimes expressed.

“But if the education gap grows much bigger I would be worried. That’s why it is important to invest in schools early on so that boys keep up from the start." 

Everyone should feel belonging

Lovisa Broström also believes narrowing the gap starts with education. Boys have not benefited from the dominating idea of self-directed learning. 

“It would also be good to invest in vocational training and make sure this gains a higher status. It is important to invest in rural areas in general – making sure there is a post office and pharmacy in the smaller towns too.

"I would never say that feminism has gone too far, but everyone – men and women – should have the opportunity to feel social belonging,” says Lovisa Broström.