Sara Seehuus

• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2023). Unpacking the logics of gendered educational choices: 10th graders’ evaluation of appropriate educational tracks. Educational review (Birmingham). doi: 10.1080/00131911.2023.2182762. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study aims to unpack one element of the logics of gendered educational choices, namely how cultural beliefs about gender can shape young people’s judgements about gendered educational tracks. Through a survey experiment conducted among secondary school students in Oslo, Norway, we assess respondents’ judgements about fictitious students’ “appropriate” educational choices presented through short vignettes. The study investigates how judgements vary according to the gender of the fictitious students, as well as respondents’ gender and their gender essentialist beliefs. The results indicate that devaluation of female-typed work play a role in young people’s judgements about educational tracks. Boys and girls alike seem to award male-typed vocational education and general college preparatory education higher status than female-typed vocational education. Nonetheless, vignette boys are more strongly advised against choosing female-typed vocational programmes than vignette girls with the same characteristics. This pattern is evident regardless of respondents’ essentialist beliefs. Thus, both devaluation and gender stereotypical expectations pull in the same direction for boys, against entering female-typed education in upper secondary school. Furthermore, the findings indicate that gender essentialism works asymmetrically. Respondents with gender essentialist beliefs are more likely to advise girls not to choose male-typed vocational programmes. However, we did not find evidence that respondents, including those who otherwise express gender essentialist beliefs, believe that female-typed vocational educational choices are appropriate for women simply because they are women.

• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2021). Gender differences and similarities in work preferences: Results from a factorial survey experiment. Acta Sociologica. p. 1–21. doi: 10.1177/00016993211060241. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Despite increased gender equality in many arenas in most of the Western world, women and men continue to choose different educational paths; this is one reason for the persistent gender segregation in the labour market. Cultural and economic explanations for occupational gender segregation both contend that gendered career choices reflect gendered preferences. By analysing data from a multifactorial survey experiment conducted in Norway, designed to isolate the preferences for occupations from preferences for job attributes with which occupation is often correlated: pay; type of position; and amount of work, this article examines whether and to what extent boys and girls who have not yet entered the labour market have different preferences for different work dimensions. The study shows some gender differences in occupational preferences, while also demonstrating similarities in boys’ and girls’ preferences for work dimensions, such as pay and working hours. This indicates that attributes tested by the experiment, which are typically associated with gendered occupations, cannot independently explain why boys and girls tend to have divergent occupational preferences. Importantly, however, the results suggest that boys’ reluctance to undertake some female-typed occupations might be reduced if they did not pay less than male-typed occupations requiring the same level of education.

• Myklebust, Runa Brandal; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Strømme, Thea Bertnes (2021). Betydningen av kjønn og skoleprestasjoner for utdannings- og arbeidsmarkedsutfall. In Krumsvik, Rune Johan (Eds.), Hva vet vi om skoleprestasjoner? Ulike perspektiver på skolegang og skoleprestasjoner. Fagbokforlaget. p. 229–245.
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2019). Social class background and gender-(a)typical choices of fields of study in higher education. British Journal of Sociology. 70(4), p. 1349–1373. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12668.
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Reisel, Liza (2017). Betydningen av sosial bakgrunn for kjønnsdeling i høyere utdanning. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. 58(3), p. 284–310. doi: 10.18261/ISSN.1504-291X-2017-03-02. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Både i Norge og andre vestlige land er det dokumentert en tydelig nedgang i kjønnssegregeringen mellom fag i høyere utdanning på 1970- og 80-tallet. Denne trenden har siden stagnert, og artikkelen omhandler sammenhengen mellom denne stagnasjonen og den samtidige økningen av antallet studieplasser i høyere utdanning. Ved bruk av registerdata for perioden 1977 til 2011, stiller vi spørsmålet om det var på grunn av utdanningsekspansjonen, som brakte flere studenter med lavere sosial bakgrunn inn i høyere utdanning, at kjønnssegregeringen mellom fag stagnerte på 1990-tallet. Sosiologisk teori gir grunnlag for å forvente at personer med lavere sosial bakgrunn er mer tilbøyelige til å gjøre kjønnstradisjonelle utdanningsvalg enn personer med høyere sosial bakgrunn. Resultatene bekrefter at lav sosial bakgrunn er forbundet med kjønnstradisjonelle utdanningsvalg for kvinner i perioden 1977 til 2011, mens sammenhengen ikke er like entydig for menn. Analysene viser likevel at stagnasjonen i desegregeringstrenden ikke kan forklares av at flere personer med lav sosial bakgrunn tok høyere utdanning, til tross for at kjønnsdelingen i utdanningsvalg gjennomgående er høyere blant personer med lav sosial bakgrunn. Dette skyldes at den relative andelen studenter med lav sosial bakgrunn i høyere utdanning har vært nærmest uendret, til tross for at antallet studenter med lav sosial bakgrunn har økt.

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• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Are Gender Gaps in Education Leaving Less Educated Men Behind in the Labor Market? Institutt for samfunnsforskning.
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2022). Flere kvinner enn menn i høyere utdanning. Institutt for samfunnsforskning.

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• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2023). Kjønn og inntekt: Konklusjonen blir den samme om vi ser på timelønn. Morgenbladet.
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Kjønn og inntekt: Konklusjonen blir den samme om vi ser på timelønn. Morgenbladet.
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Likestillingsdebatten om gutter og menn er umoden. Dagens næringsliv.
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Men’s and women’s earnings 1980-2020. Are gender gaps in education leaving men with less education behind?
• Torvik, Fartein Ask; Reeves, Richard; Reisel, Liza; Flatø, Martin; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Solli, Ingeborg Caroline Foldøy [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2023). Seminar on Men’s Equity: Education, Earnings, Health and Fertility.
• Seehuus, Sara (2023). Kjønnsdelte utdanningsvalg – endring og stabilitet.
• Seehuus, Sara & Myklebust, Runa Brandal (2023). Kjønnsdelte utdanningsvalg og mannsunderskuddet i høyere utdanning.
• Seehuus, Sara (2023). Enda skjevere kjønns­fordeling. — Regjeringen må ta dette på alvor. [Internet]. Khrono.
• Seehuus, Sara (2023). Gutter trenger ikke å få like gode karakterer som jenter. [Internet]. Forskning.no.
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2023). Female Advantage or Compensation? Gender and Social Origin Differences in Returns to School Performance in Norway.
• Seehuus, Sara (2022). Lemet Máhtte (21) håper flere mannlige forbilder på kvinnedominerte utdanninger. [Internet]. NRK.
• Seehuus, Sara (2022). Jenter har vært i klart flertall i høyere utdanning de siste 20 årene. [Internet]. Khrono.
• Seehuus, Sara (2022). "Han har en av landets best betalte jobber. Se i hvilke 100 yrker du tjener mest". [Newspaper]. Aftenposten.
• Strømme, Thea Bertnes; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Kittelsen Røberg, Karl Ingar (2022). Gendered Dropout and Transfer in Higher Education - Mechanisms and theoretical implications.
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2021). Nils Olav (24) går mot strømmen. Han er mannlig sykepleier. [Internet]. Dagen.
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2021). De fleste velger tradisjonelt, men Åsgeir (37) valgte helt annerledes. [Internet]. NRK.
• Frøjd, Elise Koppang; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Messel, Jan (2018). – Det er guttene som må begynne å velge utradisjonelt. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Forskning.no.
• Frøjd, Elise Koppang; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Messel, Jan (2018). - Menn kan endre at utdanningssystemet er kjønnsdelt. [Internet]. Viten og praksis.
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Reisel, Liza (2017). Horizons of opportunity: Unpacking the logics of gendered educational choices.

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