Ethno-linguistic and gender differences in high school course selection patterns : Ethno-linguistic and gender differences in high school selection patterns

Access to post-secondary education (PSE) in Canada has been the subject of research and discussion for many years. Much of that work examined issues of equity and in doing so identified several groups in society that were underrepresented in university and college classrooms. These included aboriginals, women, individuals from low-income families, and immigrants -- the latter further differentiated by immigrant generation and ethnicity. More recently, this situation has changed for at least two groups: women and immigrants are now enrolled at the post-secondary education level in large numbers, to the point where immigrant enrolments are proportionately greater than their representation in the general population and women now outnumber men at the undergraduate level.