Equal opportunities for men and women have been under active discussion in the Nordic countries for decades. There is a broad political support for equal opportunities in the region although the goal has yet to be reached. Women are paid lower wages for doing the same work as men, in addition to which they have the active responsibility for running the household and carrying out most of the unpaid work in general. By law, men and women in the Nordic countries have equal opportunities regarding education and training. However, tradition still dominates when it comes to choice of education and career.
Statistics show that types of education are, on the whole, sex-determined.
This fact is evident both in lower and higher education. In job-oriented training, girls focus on services while boys choose production and administration. This results in women providing services such as teaching and nursing while men take care of policy-making, administration and production. Women employees form a two-third majority in the public sector, while men are in the majority in the private sector. Almost half of the labour force in the Nordic countries consists of women.