Access to education was one of the most important issues for the women’s movement during the 19th and early 20th century. Formal obstacles and legislation excluding women from higher education have now been removed for many decades and women are well represented on undergraduate and graduate levels in the European HE (Higher Education) system. On higher levels however women are still heavily underrepresented and many obstacles remain for female students and researchers pursuing an academic career.

In spite of the important development of the last century towards a more equal and democratic society, European women still earn considerable less and have less political influence than European men. Women are exposed to gender related violence and sexual abuse to a much higher degree than men. They are also much more commonly being sexually harassed in their working or studying environment. Gender is still one of the most important categories in our society, and we become shaped and influenced by gender roles and by stereotypes and ideas about gender from early childhood. The belief that women and men are essentially different and suited for different activities and professions is still common. This construction of gender, where men and women are seen as different and opposite from each other, also includes a hierarchy where traditionally male activities and characteristics are given higher status than traditionally female ones. These values and ideas affect our perception of merits, efforts and skills, often resulting in the merits of individual women being underestimated or overlooked in relation to the merits of individual men.

ESU's opinion on the matter
We need to strive for equal access to higher education for all groups within society and address these problems to come up with proposals on how ensure that equality of access becomes reality.