Sara Seehuus

• Seehuus, Sara (2026). The value of good grades. Gender and social origin differences in returns to lower secondary school performance. Journal of Education and Work. p. 1–22. doi: 10.1080/13639080.2026.2647261. Full text in Research Archive
• Strømme, Thea Bertnes; Røberg, Karl Ingar Kittelsen & Seehuus, Sara (2025). Gendered dropout in higher education: peer effects or gender typing? European Societies. p. 1–26. doi: 10.1162/euso.a.41. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that dropout in higher education is associated with educational gender segregation, as some studies have shown that being in a gender minority increases the likelihood of leaving a field of study. Using extensive population-wide data for 22 cohorts, we first analyze the correlation between present and historical gender composition and dropout using a linear probability model with propensity score matching; we then use models with program fixed effects to exploit the change over time in gender composition within specific programs at specific institutions, allowing us to investigate the extent to which gendered peer effects drive dropout. Our findings show that both men and women tend to drop out more from gender-balanced fields, less from female-dominated fields, and more from historically male-dominated fields. These differences are lager for women than for men. This pattern disappears, however, when examining year-to-year changes in gender composition within each educational program at institutions, even if women have a small tendency to drop out from gender-balanced programs when the share of women increases; this suggests that gendered dropout patterns are not driven by peer effects stemming from numerical underrepresentation.

• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Strømme, Thea Bertnes (2024). Gendered Returns to Education: The Association between Educational Attainment, Gender Composition in Field of Study and Income. Sociology. p. 1–21. doi: 10.1177/00380385241303448. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Women’s higher college completion rates and greater economic returns to education are regarded as a pathway towards economic gender equality. However, gender-segregated educational choices contribute to persisting gender segregation in the labour market and the gender pay gap. Few studies have explored how the returns to education vary based on the gender composition of fields of study. Using comprehensive register data from Norway, this study examines the link between income and gender-typed fields of study across education levels. Consistent with prior research, we find that women experience larger relative returns to higher education, indicating that women have more to gain from investing in education. Moreover, female-dominated fields yield lower returns compared with gender-balanced and male-dominated fields across all education levels. Lastly, and contrary to the ‘glass escalator’ notion, the economic penalty associated with female-dominated education is greater for men than for women.

• 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. Full text in Research Archive
• 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. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  By employing a Bourdieu‐inspired class scheme that differentiates between classes’ volume and composition of capital, and by analysing Norwegian administrative register data for birth cohorts between 1987 and 1992, this paper examines the relationship between social class background and gender‐(a)typical choices of higher education. Fields of study in higher education in much of the Western world remain segregated by gender despite the gender gap in educational attainment having been reversed. However, some changes have taken place due to the influx of women into male‐dominated, high‐status fields. Few recent studies have examined the relationship between social class background and gendered educational choices in light of these changes; furthermore, the focus of previous research has been limited to the vertical dimension of class. The results presented in this article suggest that men and women are more likely to make gender‐atypical choices when this leads to social mobility and that focusing solely on the vertical dimension of class may mask horizontal differences.

• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Reisel, Liza (2017). Betydningen av sosial bakgrunn for kjønnsdeling i høyere utdanning. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS). 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.

View all works in NVA

• Myklebust, Runa Brandal; Sandberg, Thora Bjørke & Seehuus, Sara (2026). Unges utdanningsvalg. Valgprosess og påvirkningsfaktorer. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Valget av utdanning er en av de viktigste beslutningene unge mennesker tar. I denne rapporten undersøker vi hvordan unge opplever valgprosessen, hva som motiverer valgene de tar, og hva som påvirker oppfatningene deres om ulike utdanninger og yrker. Vi kombinerer et kvantitativt surveyeksperiment med en kvalitativ intervjuundersøkelse for å få dybdekunnskap både om hvordan de unge opplever utdanningsvalget, og om hvilke faktorer som påvirker valgene. Vårt utvalg består av gutter og jenter ved videregående skoler i tre ulike fylker i Norge.

• Kitterød, Ragni Hege; Larsen, Edvard Nergård; Seehuus, Sara; Teigen, Mari & Wik, Åsa Martine Nygaard (2026). Likestillingslandet i endring: Polariserte holdninger og oppfatninger. Resultater fra CORE Survey 2025 – likestillingsundersøkelsen. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  CORE Survey – likestillingsundersøkelsen dekker et bredt spekter av oppfatninger om og holdninger til likestilling, både mer tradisjonelle og nye likestillingsspørsmål. Den første undersøkelsen ble gjennomført våren 2022, og den andre ble gjennomført våren 2025. Rapporten viser utvalgte resultater fra 2025-undersøkelsen. Til sammen har 4 375 personer i alderen 18–79 år svart på denne. Vi beskriver befolkningens syn på likestilling og undersøker hvordan dette henger sammen med kjønn, alder, utdanning, bosted, politisk stemmegivning med mer. Noen resultater blir sammenlignet med CORE Survey 2022 og med likelydende spørsmål som er stilt i andre undersøkelser tidligere.

• Seehuus, Sara & Reisel, Liza (2026). Vurdering av rimelig avlønning i kvinne- og mannstypiske jobber. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive
• Hesstvedt, Stine & Seehuus, Sara (2025). Kjønnsgapet i stemmegivning og unge menn. Et notat basert på Valgundersøkelsen 1957–2021 og CORE SURVEY 2022. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Har kjønn og likestilling blitt viktigere for stemmegivningen? De siste årene har mange opphetede diskusjoner om kjønn tatt stor plass i offentligheten, med diskusjoner knyttet til «wokeness», «tradwives», kjønnsidentitet, metoo og konservative influenseres innflytelse på unge menn. I dette notatet ønsker vi å kaste lys over dagens debatt fra et historisk perspektiv ved å studere likestillingsholdninger og stemmegivning ved hjelp av CORE SURVEY 2022 og Valgundersøkelsens tidsserier (1957–2021). Ser vi tegn til et økende kjønnsgap i stemmegivningen i Norge, og i hvilken grad henger dette sammen med holdninger til likestilling? Utgiver

• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Are Gender Gaps in Education Leaving Less Educated Men Behind in the Labor Market? Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2022). Flere kvinner enn menn i høyere utdanning. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara (2021). Gendered Educational Choices: Preferences and Opportunity Structures. OsloMet - storbyuniversitetet. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This dissertation aims at identifying factors that promote or discourage gendered educational choices in an advanced gender equality context. Since the 1970s, the educational systems of post-industrial economies have been subject to two major gender-related changes. First, the proportion of women in higher education has increased dramatically, resulting in a reversal of the gender gap in educational attainment. Second, gender segregation in fields of study decreased substantially in the two decades following the start of the influx of women in higher education but has since slowed. Moreover, this desegregation has been a one-sided process, as it has mainly involved women moving into previously male-dominated fields of study without an equivalent increase in the proportion of men in female-dominated ones. Much of the literature addressing gender segregation in education focuses on its persistency, and the theoretical explanations applied are thus limited in their ability to account for gender-atypical choices. Moreover, many studies have focused on the lack of women in certain male-dominated fields of study. In light of the increased share of women in many previously male-dominated fields of study within higher education, this dissertation also directs its attention towards the lack of men in female-dominated fields, and towards what might prompt gender-atypical choices for both men and women. By utilizing data from Norwegian administrative registers and two factorial survey experiments carried out in Oslo, this dissertation examines how individual preferences, cultural beliefs, social background, and economic rewards influence gendered educational choices. The results from this dissertation can be summarized in four key findings. First, regarding individual preferences, the results from one of the factorial survey experiments indicate that preferences for job attributes such as pay and working hours, that are often associated with gender-typed occupations in the real world, cannot independently account for why boys and girls tend to have divergent occupational preferences. However, the findings also suggest that boys’ negative evaluations of some female-dominated occupations may be reduced if they were paid more. Second, the findings from the other factorial survey experiment indicate stronger support for consensual status beliefs that devalue female-typed work than for gender essentialist notions. However, the results suggest that both gendered status beliefs and gender essentialist beliefs may deter boys from taking female-dominated vocational education. Third, regarding social background, the results suggest that processes of gender segregation and social class reproduction are interlinked. This underscores the importance of taking other dimensions of inequality into account when studying gendered educational choices, and, conversely, the importance of taking gender into account when investigating the influence of social background on educational choices. Fourth, the findings regarding economic rewards shed light on the overrepresentation of women in higher education. Consistent with previous research, they show that the relative returns to higher education are larger for women than for men. However, the analyses show that gender differences in absolute economic returns are smaller among those with master-level education. Theoretically, the dissertation draws on the notion of gender that underpins the works of Cecilia Ridgeway, which implies a focus on the social processes and institutional structures through which gender works. It also combines theoretical perspectives from the literature on gender segregation with perspectives from the sociology of education. I suggest supplementing explanations of gender segregation with insights from theories that aim at explaining socioeconomic inequalities in education so that the opportunity structures individuals face are taken into account. I argue that this approach is better able to account for both gender-typical and gender-atypical choices and the way in which these choices are contingent on other dimensions of inequality.

View all works in NVA

• Reisel, Liza; Rogne, Adrian Farner & Seehuus, Sara (2025). Gender and long-term trends in educational attainment, income and returns to education in Norway. SocArXiv. doi: 10.31235/osf.io/q5cb8_v1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study addresses the economic returns to education among men and women in Norway, during five decades of changing and widening gender disparities in educational attainment. We ask how gender differences in educational attainment and returns have contributed to change and persistence in the gender income gap, and whether young men have started trailing behind due to women’s relative gains in higher education. While rising real incomes have contributed to a narrowing relative income gap, the absolute gap has decreased more slowly. In the past decade, both real incomes and the gender income gap have stagnated. Our results show that while both men and women in Norway have increased their education levels, women’s gains have been mainly in higher education, while men’s gains have disproportionately been in vocational upper secondary education. Contrary to the situation in the US and other liberal market economies, income growth among men with vocational education in Norway has recently outpaced every other group, resulting in a decreasing college premium, particularly among men. Women’s relative gains in higher education are partly offset by their lower incomes at all education levels, and the relatively strong income growth among men with vocational degrees. Decomposition analyses confirm these patterns.

• Seehuus, Sara (2025). Kvinner tjener mest på å ta høyere utdanning. [Internet]. kifinfo. Full text in Research Archive
• Strømme, Thea Bertnes; Røberg, Karl Ingar Kittelsen & Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2025). Gendered Dropout in Higher Education. Peer effects or gender typing? Full text in Research Archive
• Reisel, Liza; Rogne, Adrian Farner; Salvanes, Kari Vea & Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2024). Are Gender Gaps in Education Leaving Less Educated Men Behind in the Labor Market? Full text in Research Archive
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Kjønn og inntekt: Konklusjonen blir den samme om vi ser på timelønn. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2023). Kjønn og inntekt: Konklusjonen blir den samme om vi ser på timelønn. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Likestillingsdebatten om gutter og menn er umoden. Full text in Research Archive
• Reisel, Liza & Seehuus, Sara (2023). Men’s and women’s earnings 1980-2020. Are gender gaps in education leaving men with less education behind? Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2023). Female Advantage or Compensation? Gender and Social Origin Differences in Returns to School Performance in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• 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. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara & Myklebust, Runa Brandal (2023). Kjønnsdelte utdanningsvalg og mannsunderskuddet i høyere utdanning. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara (2023). Gutter trenger ikke å få like gode karakterer som jenter. [Internet]. Forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara (2023). Kjønnsdelte utdanningsvalg – endring og stabilitet. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara (2023). Enda skjevere kjønns­fordeling. — Regjeringen må ta dette på alvor. [Internet]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara (2022). "Han har en av landets best betalte jobber. Se i hvilke 100 yrker du tjener mest". [Journal]. Aftenposten. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara (2022). Lemet Máhtte (21) håper flere mannlige forbilder på kvinnedominerte utdanninger. [Internet]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara (2022). Jenter har vært i klart flertall i høyere utdanning de siste 20 årene. [Internet]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive
• Strømme, Thea Bertnes; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Røberg, Karl Ingar Kittelsen (2022). Gendered Dropout and Transfer in Higher Education - Mechanisms and theoretical implications. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2021). De fleste velger tradisjonelt, men Åsgeir (37) valgte helt annerledes. [Internet]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn (2021). Nils Olav (24) går mot strømmen. Han er mannlig sykepleier. [Internet]. Dagen. Full text in Research Archive
• Frøjd, Elise Koppang; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Messel, Jan (2018). - Menn kan endre at utdanningssystemet er kjønnsdelt. [Internet]. Viten og praksis. Full text in Research Archive
• Frøjd, Elise Koppang; Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Messel, Jan (2018). – Det er guttene som må begynne å velge utradisjonelt. [Journal]. Forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Seehuus, Sara Marie Jorunn & Reisel, Liza (2017). Horizons of opportunity: Unpacking the logics of gendered educational choices. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA