Missed Opportunities Due to Gender Bias: A Qualitative Analysis of Microdiscrimination against Female University Students in Spain

Abstract

This study investigates the microdiscrimination that female students experience on their journey through higher education. Using qualitative methodology we interpret, analyse and categorize gender microinequities. The results show that female students are aware of the social naturalization of gender roles, but they in no way adopt them. Few participants go beyond condemning the fact that stereotypes are deeply rooted in the family and society. They do not generally perceive that the legal, political and economic systems are also structured in such a way as to hinder equal opportunities. Political and institutional measures, therefore, need to be applied to draw attention to the inequalities generated on a macrostructural level by the patriarchal system.

Keywords

• gender microdiscrimination
• higher education
• qualitative methodology
• inequality of opportunity