Gender and Education

Vol. 19, No. 1, January 2007, pp. 93107

Struggling between tradition and

modernity: gender and educational
choice-making in contemporary Cyprus
Marios Vryonides*
University of the Aegean, Greece
Gender
10.1080/09540250601087827
CGEE_A_208726.sgm
0954-0253
Original
Taylor
102007
19
Dr
vrionidis@rhodes.aegean.gr
00000January
MariosVryonides
and
&
and
Article
Francis
(print)/1360-0516
Francis
Education
2007
Ltd
(online)

This article investigates the role of gender in educational choice-making for post secondary school
destinations in contemporary Cyprus. More specifically, it examines the cultural and ideological
mechanisms that produce gender differentiation in the way educational choices are made by
secondary school students and their families. Drawing on evidence from a qualitative investigation
of parents of students graduating from secondary schools it supports that the unequal patterns
observed can be partly explained by the diverse ways Cypriot parents perceive gender roles which
in turn influence their willingness to invest economic and non monetary resources to support their
childrens choices.

Introduction
Over the past three decades the numbers of female students progressing to higher
education in Cyprus1 has shown a remarkable increase. Data published by the
Department of Statistics (2003) show that currently more female students move to
higher education than male (Table 1). Moreover, recent national university entrance
examination results show that female students achieve much more highly compared
to male students2 (Phileleftheros, 2004, p. 1). It is, however, a familiar finding in sociology of education that nowadays, injustices do not lie in exclusion from higher
education but are found in the unequal pattern with which choices are made in terms
of gender, social class and ethnic background (Hodkinson & Sparkes, 1997; Reay,
1998). The growing ranks of students, male and female, coming from families with
different sociocultural characteristics have different options available, resulting in
distinctly different social outcomes. In these terms, while this paper assumes that
gender is expected to play an important role in the life chances of young individuals,
*Department of Sciences in Pre-school Education and in Educational Design, University of the
Aegean, Dimokratias 1, Rhodes 85 100, Greece. Email: vrionidis@rhodes.aegean.gr
ISSN 09540253 (print)/ISSN 13600516 (online)/07/01009315
2007 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09540250601087827

94 M. Vryonides
Table 1.

Third level students per 100,000 inhabitants, 19702000

Year

Male students

Female students

1970
1980
1990
2000

3035
3358
2930
3267

1024
2055
2380
4055

Source: Department of Statistics and Research (2003).

the focus is on the processes and structures, which constitute the structuring of
choices that lead to these patterns. Focusing on the mechanisms that provide explanations about the unequal patterns of choice-making in terms of gender3 is essential
in every society as these procedures often operate in culturally complex ways that
conceal the existence of wider social inequalities. Consequently, these unequal
patterns of educational choice-making sustain womens position in society whereby
they lag behind men in many walks of social life such as that of paid employment
(Rees, 1992; Monk & Garcia-Ramon, 1996; Desai et al., 1999).
This paper focuses on perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of parents in relation to
their expectations for their childrens future prospects. Drawing on evidence from
interviews with a group of 28 parents who had children at the crucial stage of secondary school graduation and were about to make choices about where to go next, this
study explores the ways with which parents regarded their childs sex as influencing
the particular choices made. The study of educational choice-making needs to take
into account the overall sociocultural environment within which it occurs, as often
there are forces and dynamics there that shape frameworks or horizons for social
action (Hodkinson, 1998, p. 558). The particular society under investigation here,
Cyprus, has often been characterized as a society that strives to define its contemporary identity, struggling between ideological antagonisms and tensions that are
created by modern and traditional elements and perspectives (Green & Vryonides,
2005; Argyrou, 1996). In this social environment, issues are raised on educational
opportunities and equity when studying the actions of individuals and families in their
attempts to secure the best possible outcomes for their children. Individuals and families from different social positions make choices based on their attitudes and beliefs
relating to the way they view the whole gamut of social relations including gender
issues. The argument put forward here is that gender has a major influence in shaping
the structuring of opportunities for choice-making regarding post-secondary school
educational and occupational destinations which is significant for the changing
context of social justice in Cyprus.
This paper begins with a presentation of the situation regarding educational
choice-making and gender in contemporary Cyprus. It then moves to describe the
sociocultural environment within which educational practices, and thus educational
choice-making, occur. Then, it describes the sample interviewed and the procedures through which the research was carried out. Through the analysis of the data,

Struggling between tradition and modernity

95

an attempt is made to present the various attitudes that exist in relation to gender
and to provide explanations for the gender differentiation observed in educational
choice-making.
Gender and educational choices
It is often reported that even though, nowadays, girls seem to be doing equally well,
if not better, in school in terms of academic achievement this is not reflected in the
general position that women occupy in modern societies (Meighan & Siraj-Blatchford,
1997, pp. 316321). There have been many explanations as to why girls tend to follow
different trajectories in education. Explanations that focus on psychological elements
such as that of abilities or personality traits are not expanded upon here, nor are
schooling processes and the different ways in which boys and girls experience education, which many would argue are among the sources that generate unequal outcomes
in education. Rather, the focus here is on explanations that derive from the explanatory concept at the level of culture and the definitions that are attached to gender,
which have implications for the way different familial resources are mobilized for the
benefit of sons and daughters.
At the end of their secondary education young people are faced with different
options as to what they will do next regarding further education or training or whether
to enter the labour market. Foskett and Hemsley-Brown (2001, p. 174) cite some
recent trends in the labour market in Britain for young people as described by Roberts
(1995). Roberts argues that even though there have been changes in the labour
markets with female school leavers attaching the same importance to occupational
careers as males, traditional gender patterns persist in employment, with males dominating management and high-status professions, and women dominating lowerstatus and lower-paid sectors. This is partly the product of different patterns in the
way male and female students make their choices for post secondary school educational destinations. In Cyprus according to the official statistics published by the
Department of Statistics (2003), as far as gender is concerned there are some noticeable patterns in the higher education population. Female students focus more on
education, fine arts, humanities and law whereas male students focus on economics
and business studies, IT, medicine and engineering and technologies. These patterns
in higher education have consequences in the eventual positions men and women
take up in the labour market in a fashion described by Rees (1992) and Desai et al.
(1999) for Britain and also by Monk and Garcia-Ramon (1996) for the European
Union, thus accounting for much of the picture of social injustice in relation to the
position of women in the labour market.
Part of the answer for the above should be sought in the way family based choices
are made for post secondary school destination. The empirical investigation of the
social context within which choices are made at the level of culture and the different
ideologies that are produced in relation to gender roles can offer some explanations.
In societies such as Cyprus, boys and girls have traditionally been socialized to fit
gendered expectations leading men and women to different social positions that have

96 M. Vryonides
sustained and reproduced gender inequalities. Over time, however, as a result of
general structural changes resulting from modernization processes these expectations
started to evolve towards more meritocratic trends. Consequently, these changes led
many women, over recent years, to better-paid and better-recognized positions in the
changing social structure. Overall, however, they still lag behind men in most areas of
social life.
Between ideological antagonisms
In a recent article, Green and Vryonides (2005) argue that educational choicemaking in Cyprus, as with other social activities, takes place within the context of
what many characterize as a modernizing society. In a space of just three generations
Cyprus has transformed from a traditional society to a society that today exhibits
many characteristics found in developed western societies in the structure of its economy and in its social and political organization. Green and Vryonides (2005) further
argue that modernization had by no means been a linear development replicating a
simplistic and idealized model of western social, political and economic transformation. Rather, numerous features of traditional attitudes and practices are still present
among many modern Cypriots. Part of the reason for this is that, whereas in the west
the transition to modernity, had been a cumulative process of two or three centuries
whereby old habits, old patterns of authority, old relationships and old values were
challenged, disrupted and replaced (Shipman, 1971, p. 13),4 in Cyprus, the transition to modernity was a product of an identified, named and systematically pursued
effort by Governments. Importantly, as observed by Argyrou (1996), cultural
patterns change less quickly than political and economic phenomena. Thus, during
this rapid transition to modernity a quite complex combination of elements of both
traditional and modern perspectives in the practices of Cypriot families within and
between social classes has emerged. In this social framework, different sections of the
Cypriot society approach several social issues in distinctive ways. Argyrou (1996)
argues that, generally and as a way of establishing a distinct cultural identity, the
working classes in Cyprus tend to associate more with traditional ideas and the
middle classes with modern ones.
Gender roles often tend to be regarded differently from traditional and modern
perspectives. The extent to which a person adheres to one or the other perspective has
effects on his/her attitude on issues relating to gender. On the one hand, the traditional perspective sees women as being primarily mothers, wives and supporters of the
traditional Cypriot family values of housekeeping and raising children. If women can
accommodate the above roles and at the same time contribute to the family income
it is considered to be a bonus for their family and not a primary objective on their part.
Their potential working life, in other words, should not get in the way of fulfilling
their roles of wives, mothers and child carers. In contrast, modern views advocate that
women should be regarded as individuals with the same potential and rights in the
workplace as men. According to this viewpoint, women should be considered as partners in a household, sharing domestic responsibilities equally with their husbands.

Struggling between tradition and modernity

97

Moreover, as this line of thought maintains, women should be given equal opportunities as men in all areas of social life, which include similar educational opportunities. It should be noted that in reality things do not operate in such dualistic (and
rather simplistic) terms. The picture is far more complex and complicated as often
these perspectives are meshed with objective realities imposed by social conditions,
i.e., social class positioning. However, the extent to which a family adheres more to
one mode of thought or to the other has consequences for and influence on the development and the adoption of different strategies that promote or restrict childrens
educational prospects. For example, they could influence the way available resources
are intentionally used5 as part of familial strategies to enhance childrens potential.
The above are examined in detail in the analysis of the empirical data gathered from
interviewing students parents.
Methodology
The sample interviewed consisted of 24 cases (28 parents) that were selected based
on information gathered from questionnaires administered to students graduating
from the full range of secondary schools in Cyprus as part of a larger study (Vryonides,
2003a). At the end of the questionnaire, it was explained to the students that parents
perspectives were essential for the purposes of the study and were asked to volunteer
their parents contact details in order to set up an interview. Most students (male and
female) responded positively to that request (80%) which presents a rather different
picture from the one presented by David et al. (2003) who reported that only 47% of
girls and only 30% of boys volunteered their parents names for their study. Students
were encouraged to provide the names of both parents, paying particular attention to
offering the fathers contact details because of the themes of the interview that was to
follow. Even though, studies such as Lareaus (1992) and Reays (1995) demonstrated that parental involvement in childrens education was gendered with mothers
playing the central part in it, the requirements of the present study deemed it necessary to get both parents perspectives paying particular attention to the fathers role.
The reasons for that was because a major part of the interview focused on the utilization of inter-familial social capital networks and connections (referred to as mesa in
Greek) which are widely thought to be vital for materializing students educational
and occupational prospects (see Vryonides, 2003b) and are almost exclusively maledominated. Thus, fathers perspectives and experiences of them were essential. As a
result, students volunteered their fathers name in most cases (55%), in 34% of the
questionnaires both names appeared and in only 11% of the cases did the students
provide the mothers contact details.
Based on data gathered from students questionnaires and following Nashs (1995)
assumption that families, rather than individuals, should be regarded as class located,
both parents occupation and education were used to classify families into class categories. To do that a procedure that took into account the occupational classification
index used by the Department of Statistics of Cyprus and Christodoulous (1995)
description of the modern Cypriot class structure were used. In the statistical analysis

98 M. Vryonides
of the data from the questionnaires an 11-point scale was normally used. In the cross
tabulation and presentation of data, however, some of the categories were merged to
create a three-point scale which included: professional middle class, intermediate
lower middle class6 and working class (hereafter PMC, LMC and WC, respectively).
For interview purposes, cases were selected following a theoretical purposive
sampling strategy in order to include parents from all three social groups. In the end,
eight interviews were arranged with parents from each one group (24 in total).
Parents of male and female students were equally represented in the sample. Also, an
effort was made to have parents whose children attended all kinds of secondary
schools, public (19 cases) and private (five cases).
When contacted over the phone about the prospect of an interview in relation to
their childrens education and future plans, most parents from the PMC and LMC
groups responded positively, whereas from some WC parents there was a cautious
and in some cases reluctant response. Furthermore, when three working class fathers
were asked to take part in an interview they responded that it was difficult for them
to do so either because of their work load or because they thought that the mothers
would be more helpful as they thought that they (the mothers) were more knowledgeable about the education and the schooling of their children. In the end, 14 fathers,
6 mothers and in 4 cases both parents, were interviewed. Even though both parents
were invited to participate in the interviews the fact that, in the end, significantly more
fathers were interviewed than mothers should be attributed to the fact that fathers
were intentionally targeted for interview. As was said above, it was thought that
fathers would be in a better position to talk about their families relations with the
kind of social capital networks and connections that could realize their childrens
prospects; an issue that was key in the overall investigation. Interviews were transcribed and then analysed trying to construct categories that would best describe the
full range of attitudes towards gender and how these, in turn, influenced childrens
educational choice-making.
Parental attitudes towards gender and educational choice-making
Contrary to Argyrous (1996) assertion that overall in Cyprus middle classes appear
to adhere more to modern attitudes while working classes to traditional, this was not
confirmed in the present study, at least on the particular issue of gender. Parents
social class did not prove to be distinctive in the pattern of the answers they gave in
the interviews. Parents attitudes towards gender appeared to emerge in a manner
that cut across the social class divide. On the one hand, there was a group of parents
who were endorsing modern attitudes that did not appear to differentiate children
on the grounds of their gender. On the other hand, there were parents whose ideas
were more or less traditional. These parents argued that male and female students
had to fulfil different roles in society and, as a result, their choices should reflect that.
However, often the picture was not as clear-cut as the above distinction might
suggest. In fact, not only did the degree of adherence to one position vary considerably, but, importantly, there were many parents who were adopting a mixed stand

Struggling between tradition and modernity

99

advocating for one position but in practice doing the opposite. This indicates that
often broader explanatory models are required to capture the hybrid of culturally
controversial attitudes. Next, parents expectations of their sons and daughters,
which connect to their attitudes and beliefs about the role of men and women in
Cypriot society, are presented. A summary of all cases can be seen at Table 2.
Expectations of parents with traditional attitudes
In general, what can be said about the parents who tended to adopt this stand is that
they clearly had different expectations for boys and girls. This was often reflected in
the gendered manner with which choices of specialization in secondary education
had been made previously (i.e., choosing specializations that traditionally attracted
boys or girls) but also in their choices of future educational and occupational destinations. Part of this, may be attributed to the fact that there was a strong belief among
them that the primary wage earner in a future family should be the man. This, on the
one hand exerted pressure on boys to make pragmatic choices that would offer realistic possibilities of leading to secure employment and, on the other hand, it allowed
girls to make their choices flexibly as the prime expectation from them was to fulfil
the role of a wife/mother/woman and not necessarily to pursue studies leading to
highly desirable jobs.
Nearly half of the parents interviewed could be classified as having traditional attitudes and beliefs about the role of gender in society which was reflected in the way
choices for future destinations were made. Some parents held very strong views about
it as shown in the case of Mr Paris (PMC), Mr Nikolaou (LMC) and Mr Kosta
(PMC), who expressed similar views:
Interviewer:
Mr Paris:
Interviewer:
Mr Paris:

Would you have different expectation if your child was a girl?

Yes there is a differentiation in the choices of education and sector. But
it is not a rule.
What would you personally have done if your child was a girl?
It is a matter of character I think. That if its a son you push him towards
your business activities. For the daughter I believe you put her on a different level. You see her tendencies and wishes as well. You are not so
demanding of a daughter. Because, for the financial needs of a future
family we still see that the weight falls primarily on a man rather than on
a woman. Anyway, a woman may contribute but the main responsibility
is in the hands of a man. That is how we still see this so, the plans could
be different for a girl.

Similar views were expressed by Mr Nikolaou (LMC) who expressed his belief that
men and women are expected to perform different roles in the Cypriot society:
Interviewer:
Mr Nikolaou:
Interviewer:
Mr Nikolaou:

Did the sex of your child play a role in the choices that you made?
Yes definitely. I would never send my daughter to become a civil engineer.
Why not?
Not that it is bad, but it would sound strange to me. It would be one of
the things that you rarely hear about There is a difference between boys
and girls. For a girl it doesnt matter if she earns 300 a month. It is

Interviewee (pseudonyms)

Mrs Dimou, bank manager

Mr and Mrs Yiorgiou, lawyer, interior designer
Mr Paris, owner of large imports company
Mr Konstantinou, senior sales manager
Mr Fotiou, doctor
Mr Loizou, senior civil servant
Mr Simou, deputy head teacher, secondary school
Mr and Mrs Kosta, senior civil servant, bank clerk
Mr Nikolaou, food shop owner
Mr and Mrs Andreou, petrol shop owner, bank clerk
Mr Athou, sales manager in semi-public organization
Mr Kostaki, assistant accountant
Mr and Mrs Sotiriou, secretary in civil service, bank employee
Mrs Michael, junior civil servant
Mr Daniel, technician in semi-public organization
Mr Christodoulou, owns furniture workshop
Mrs Antoniou, housewife
Mrs Teresa, housewife
Mr Argyrou, barber
Mrs Agapiou, housewife
Mrs Litsa, hairdresser
Mr Michalis, traditional confectioner
Mr Anastasiou, factory worker
Mr Apostolou, office worker

Case
number

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

Male
Female
Male
Male
Female
Male
Male
Female
Female
Female
Male
Female
Male
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Female
Female
Male
Male
Male

Student
gender
Private
Private
Private
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Private
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public
Public

Student
school
Economics
Law
Law
Accountancy
English literature
Applied mathematics
Primary teacher
Greek literature
Primary teacher
Primary teacher
Business law
Psychology
Mathematics
Elect. engineer
Special education
Special education

Nurse
Primary teacher

Journalism
Greek literature

Plans to study

Table 2. Summary of general characteristics of the interview cases

Britain
Britain
Britain
College in Cyprus
Britain
Greece
Cyprus
Greece
Cyprus
Greece
Britain
USA
Cyprus
Greece
College in Cyprus
Greece

Cyprus
Cyprus

Cyprus
Greece

Place of study

100 M. Vryonides

Struggling between tradition and modernity

101

bonus for her family. The fewer qualifications she has the easier it is to
get employment. She doesnt have the pressure that she should support a
family. If she has her house [he refers to the issue of dowry] For a son
things are different. He cannot support a family with a salary of 300 and
350 pounds. I would not accept this for my son. The son is under a lot of
pressure.

Even though Mr Kosta (PMC) did not have a son he acknowledged the fact that
there were different expectations of men and women in the Cypriot society. Asked if
he would have treated a son differently, he said:
I dont think I would have treated a son differently [he had two daughters]. Even though
gender plays a role, especially in our society, because you expect a man to get a better job
to do better studies he is the provider in a family whereas you cant have the same expectations of a woman because if she totally devotes herself into her career she will leave her
family out. So, you make a compromise there. You are not so demanding of a daughter.
You have higher expectations of a son.

The above views reflect the position that men are the ones who should have the
responsibility of being the primary wage earners in a family. According to this line of
thinking a womans main responsibility should be with her house and her potential
income should be regarded as a bonus for her family rather than an obligation on her
part. This attitude was the main reason that drove three WC mothers in the sample
interviewed to leave their jobs and stay at home to raise their children as soon as they
had them.
Three LMC families made different choices for the secondary education of their
sons and daughters that reveal a typical traditional gendered attitude. These three
families sent their sons, but not their daughters, to English speaking private schools.
These schools in Cyprus serve as preparatory institutions mostly for British higher
education, which is widely perceived as prestigious in relation to other higher education destinations. In fact, this is not just a perception but is reflected in the earnings
of British university graduates, which, according to Demetriades (1993), is 117% of
the average earnings of other university graduates. Mr Daniel (LMC), for example,
admitted that, initially, when his children were younger, he held some very traditional
ideas about the opportunities he would give to his older son and younger daughter.
However, at the point of interviewing he appeared to be reconsidering his ideas, even
though he had made different plans for his son and his daughter. His son attended a
private school and was about to go to the US to study genetics with a partial scholarship. His daughter was directed to attend a local college in Cyprus to study a special
education course which led to a diploma:
I must admit that when they were younger I could say that I wanted my son to become
something like this [geneticist] because I could see that he had the potential I may have
had different thoughts in my mind. But now that my daughter is graduating too I do not
want to distinguish between them at all because every child has its personality. (Mr Daniel)

Another example of son/daughter distinction was the case with Mr Athous (LMC)
children. Even though he expressed some liberal views on the issue of both sexes
being given equal opportunities, what he actually did with his children contradicted

102 M. Vryonides
these views. In particular, his son attended a fee-paying private English-speaking
school that he considered as being of a better quality than public schools, whereas his
daughter attended a public lyceum. Similarly, Mrs Andreous son (LMC) also
attended a private English speaking school while they had different plans for her
daughter. For her son she said: Yes sending my son to the English school meant
future studies in Britain but because he was a son and you think a bit differently. For
her daughter she commented: If she follows economics [in a public school] for me a
bank is ideal [place for employment] for a woman.
The three parents presented above exemplify the traditional expectations that male
children should be given priority over female as to the kind and quality of resources
that are mobilized for them to secure the best possible future educational prospects
and thus be in a better position to fulfil their expected role in a society where patriarchical social structures are thought to better preserve traditional family values (i.e.,
raising children properly).
Other parents appeared to distinguish between their children in terms of their
gender on other grounds. Mr Konstantinou (PMC) and Mr Argyrou (WC) both
argued that technical education suited male children better:
If I had a son I would have sent him to follow a technical job. My father was a tailor. He
wanted me to become a fashion designer or a tailor. (Mr Konstantinou)
If I had a son I would send him to the technical school to learn a trade [techni]. Everybody
wants to have higher studies, nobody wants to go to learn trade any more. And there are
jobs in this field there is money. (Mr Argyrou)

For Mr Simou (PMC) too certain fields were gendered. He had this to say about
the issue when talking about the fact that both his son and daughter followed primary
school teaching. He seems to suggest that primary school teaching is more suitable
for a daughter rather than a son:
I honestly tell you I would prefer my son to choose something else, one other study to go
and study abroad since he is a son. Now you will tell me how about your daughter? She
was an excellent student as well but she is a daughter. (Mr Simou)

Overall, regardless of social class background traditional ideas about the role of
gender in contemporary Cypriot society put male students under more pressure to
make more pragmatic choices than their female counterparts. That is, choices that
would offer better prospects of securing employment, steady income and ideally, if
possible, high social status. Compared with male students within the traditionalist
framework, female students appeared to have more flexibility in their educational
choice-making. In this framework the expectation for young women was primarily to
get married and start a family. In this sense, in relation to educational choice-making
they were in a better position to follow their inclinations and make educationally and
occupationally riskier choices so long as they did not contradict the expectations
cited above. This mode of thought maintains that women, more than men, can afford
to make choices that run high risks of unemployment or part time and occasional
employment. As a result these choices are often less ambitious and for many bright

Struggling between tradition and modernity

103

young women they constitute a compromise in order to accommodate a potential

career with the role of mother/wife. As will be seen later on, the teaching profession
was considered to be ideal for girls by parents who adhered to traditionalist ideas. The
above ideas, however, were regarded as outdated by other parents who were adopting
more progressive ideas in relation to gender.
Expectations of parents with modern attitudes
The parents who appear to have modern attitudes (10 out of 24 cases) did not seem
to distinguish between their children in terms of their gender in the opportunities that
they intended to provide to them. These parents appeared to be equally prepared to
support their sons and their daughters in their chosen future educational and occupational endeavours. It has to be said that this approach tends to be gaining grounds
in contemporary Cyprus and should be viewed in relation to the changing position of
women in society over the past few decades. Most of the parents who endorsed such
ideas suggested that even though in the past there had been discrimination against
young women from within their families, nowadays parents should provide their
daughters and sons with equal opportunities. Mrs Dimous (PMC) comments were
typical of the answers that progressive minded parents gave: I believe that it is unfair
what some parents do to distinguish between boy and girl. I believe that parents
should give the best educational provision to their children whether they are boys or
girls.
Mrs Litsa (WC) also had similar attitudes towards giving the same opportunities to
her daughter (she had a younger son) and she appeared determined to support her
daughter in order to reach the highest possible levels of education:
Interviewer:
Mrs Litsa:

Up to what level of education would you be prepared to push your

daughter?
I wont deprive her if she wants to. If she succeeds in passing teacher, she
plans to work for a few years and then study history or political science.
She is telling us that she will be studying until she is 30 it is not as it
used to be some years ago when you would push the son higher and give
priority to a son. I see all of them the same way.

In general, parents who expressed ideas such as the above were seeing their views
as better fitting the needs of a modern European society8 characterized by rationality,
meritocracy and fairness. It should be noted that, as was mentioned right from the
start, parents, regardless of their social class, were adopting traditional and/or more
progressive ideas towards gender and education often in complex ways that did not
fall into clear-cut categories. Thus, parents attitudes could be placed in a continuum
ranging from very traditional to very progressive ideas with cases of parents who
seemed to argue for one position on the matter whereas in reality their practices did
not support those views. This was clearly demonstrated in the case of three LMC
parents who were acknowledging what was perhaps politically correct to say in terms
of providing equal opportunities for all but the fact that they were investing more for
their sons education rather than their daughters was indicative of the fact that deep

104 M. Vryonides
down they were more influenced by what had been the traditional practice on the
matter, which was to favour male children over female.
Extended or restricted horizons for choice-making
As indicated by previous studies (David et al., 2003; Ball et al., 2002; Reay, 1998) this
paper, too, argues that gender plays a central role in the formation of distinct horizons for action for educational choice-making as described by Hodkinson and
Sparkes (1997). The present study also argues that educational choice-making is
shaped by the way gender is perceived within a particular social and cultural context.
In this vein, the whole process is in line with what Hodkinson and Sparkes (1997)
have described when they talked about pragmatically rational decision-making
within the context of what Bourdieu has called the subjective expectations of objective probability. Similarly, Ball et al. (2000, p. 22) in their study of choices of further
education, argue that horizons for action are both material and perceptual. Indeed,
as the present study argues perceptions in relation to the role of gender and parents
willingness to invest available forms of capital (real and symbolic) shape habituses of
success or compromise, accordingly.
Parents attitudes towards gender issues in a semi-peripheral society still on its
route to modernization such as Cyprus (Green & Vryonides, 2005) have the potential to expand or to restrict opportunities for choices for male and female students.
This is because attitudes towards gender often affect the way available familial capitals (economic, cultural and social) are mobilized/ invested to influence the future
educational and occupational prospects of young people. It is important to point out
the importance of non-monetary forms of capital because often economic capital,
even though very essential, does not always exclusively mould future destinations as
higher studies in the public institutions in Greece and Cyprus are free at the point of
delivery.8 Thus, the importance of symbolic, non-monetary forms of capital becomes
pre-eminent, particularly, cultural capital circulating in the home environment
(Bourdieu, 1986) as well as social capital in the form of social networks and connections, often referred to as mesa in Greek (Vryonides, 2003b). Traditionalist attitudes
towards the roles of gender in contemporary Cyprus shape an environment where
male children are given priority in the amount and quality of capital that is intentionally or unintentionally mobilized to facilitate their choice-making for higher status
professional positions. So, even though it appears that female students tend to
pursue higher education in higher numbers than male students thus giving a picture
of relative equality of opportunity for both sexes, when the kinds of choices that male
and female students make are looked at more closely, another picture is revealed.
Male students tend to be oriented in greater numbers to courses leading to traditional high professions (engineering, medicine, etc) whereas female students are
more likely to be drawn to social sciences, humanities and, in particular, to primary
school teaching. For many, teaching is a compromising choice as Mrs Litsa (WC)
very vividly points out when she described why she thought so many students were
interested in becoming teachers:

Struggling between tradition and modernity

105

Because they [parents and children] feel that the only thing that if you manage to enter,
there arent any mesa, its becoming a teacher. And then the competition is very fierce. And
what kind of job is a teacher? It is not that important. My daughter has so much knowledge
and abilities that her teachers dont agree that she should go to become a teacher She
should have gone to political studies. But who is going to help her from then on?

For Mrs Litsa and other parents in her position a realistic way for her daughter to
exchange her high academic achievement was to choose to pursue school teaching.
This indicates the clear distinction that exists in the way certain professions are
perceived. Some are considered as having higher status than others and better fitting
men who, after all, are bestowed with the responsibility of providing for their family,
while other jobs are thought of as having lower status which better fit women who
have to perform, simultaneously, different and often conflicting roles. These conflicting perceptions shape extended or limited horizons for choices. In other words the
horizons for action for educational choice-making are shaped by perceptions, attitudes and beliefs relating to gender and the subsequent application of available
resources in materializing future prospects. Thus, parents with traditional views are
more likely to mobilize more resources for sons rather than daughters in relation to
the kind and level of education they are expecting them to achieve and thus unwillingly contributing to the formation of a habitus of high aspirations for male children.
At the same time, by offering girls some kind of compensatory support (e.g., some
form of dowry for marriage9) to make up for the less favourable treatment they
contribute towards the formation of a habitus of lower educational aspirations which
lead to gendered choices, thus sustaining the reproduction of existing inequalities in
relation to the position women occupy in the Cypriot society.
Conclusion
This paper has examined issues of gender and educational choice-making in contemporary Cyprus. Even though official statistics published annually by the Department
of Statistics of Cyprus present a picture of relative openness in higher education in
terms of gender, a close examination of the way educational choices are made and the
social forms within which this process is embedded, reveals a complex picture. As
indicated in the introduction inequalities today are found in the unequal pattern with
which educational choices are made. Different families employ distinct practices and
are differentially willing to invest available resources for the education of their sons
and daughters. The various strategies different families employ are heavily influenced
by cultural ideological perspectives of gender which produce diverse patterns of
educational choice-making. These perspectives, in other words, function as a covert
mechanism that sustains gender inequalities even though today, girls seem to be
achieving academically better compared with boys. This challenges the meritocratic
rationale which advocates that education offers equal opportunities to everybody and
that academic achievement is a path to social success. Education is not an institution
that is isolated from the society in which it is set and thus is deeply affected by intrinsic
social inequalities.

106 M. Vryonides
Where traditional attitudes prevail over more modern ones, they guide families,
regardless of their social class status, to make unequal investments of their various
resources for the benefit of their male and female children. These, on the one hand,
allow male students to make choices within a context of certainty (Reay, 1998) offering them better prospects for social and occupational success. On the other hand,
they shape a framework whereby female students make flexible choices but within a
context of compromise which restrains them from achieving their true potentials.
This situation, to those who support further rationalization of the Cypriot society,
constitutes a major impediment to achieving true social justice.
Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.
6.

7.

8.

9.

When reference to Cypriot society is made we refer to the Greek Cypriot society.
Out of 16 top achievers in various field of study in the 2004 exams 14 were female.
As well as social class and ethnicity.
The transition to modernity in the west has not been a smooth transition but rather a process that
unfolded in the mist of class antagonisms and conflicts. Within this changing environment education as an institution emerged often as a response to the needs of modern capitalist societies.
It must be pointed out that familial resources often have either positive or negative unintended
consequences.
Moshonas (1993, pp. 273276) describes this social group in the modern Greek society as the
product of the mass transition of the agrarian population to the urban centres whereby the population took up paid employment in middle position, white collar occupations in the state and
private sectors as well as self employed sub-professionals and owners of smallsize enterprises.
In the context of the Cypriot society the lower middle class corresponds to a similar description.
Green and Vryonides (2005) argue that Europe often appears in everyday discourse in the
public and private spheres as a label, an ideal to which the Cypriot society should aim in order
to appear modern. Argyrou (1996) further argues that for the media, the press, the politicians,
and so on, Europe sets the standards of quality, rationality and progress.
It is certainly a constraint for other routes namely studies at British and American universities,
which are mostly available to high-income professional middle class families (and to a lesser
degree to lower middle class families) who can afford the high costs of such an endeavour.
One may make an observation at this point, which suggests that regarding the practice of offering a dowry to daughters there is a traditional versus modern perception of how best to fulfil
that obligation. Working class families may be more inclined to resort to traditional forms of
dowry, e.g., providing for a house, whereas middle class families may make alternative provisions, e.g., financing higher education. This may be interpreted as putting different values on
the priorities that different families set for their children. However, despite the fact that many
would argue that dowry is an out-of-date practice, there is a strong sense of obligation among
many parents originating from tradition to offer as much help as possible to facilitate their
daughters in getting married.

References
Argyrou, V. (1996) Tradition and modernity in the Mediterranean (Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press).
Ball, S. J., Davies, J., David, M. & Reay, D. (2002) Classification and judgement: social class and
the cognitive structures of choice of higher education, British Journal of Sociology of Education,
23(1), 5173.

Struggling between tradition and modernity

107

Ball, S. J., Maguire, M. & Macrae, S. (2000) Choice, pathways and transitions post-16: new youth,
new economies in the global city (London, RoutledgeFalmer).
Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital, in: J. G. Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of theory and
research for the sociology of education (New York, Greenwood Press).
Christodoulou, D. (1995) Life chances in Cyprus: occupational and social structures and mobility
viewed in perspective, The Cyprus Review, 7, 733.
David, M., Ball, S., Davies, J. & Reay, D. (2003) Gender issues in parental involvement in student
choices of higher education, Gender and Education, 15(1), 2136.
Demetriades, E. I. (1993) The returns to education and applications for educational investment,
in: E. I. Demetriades, W. J. House, N. F. Khoury & S. Matsis (Eds) Population and human
resources development in cyprus (Nicosia, Department of Statistics and Research).
Department of Statistics and Research (2003) Statistics of education 2000/01 (Nicosia, Nicosia
Printing Office).
Desai, T., Gregg, P., Steer, J. & Wadsworth, J. (1999) Gender and the labour market, in: P. Gregg
& J. Wadsworth (Eds) The state of working Britain (Manchester, Manchester University Press).
Foskett, N. & Hemsley-Brown, J. (2001) Choosing futures: young peoples decision-making in education, training and careers markets (London, Routledge Falmer).
Green, A. & Vryonides, M. (2005) Ideological tensions in the educational practices of Cypriot
parents, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26(3), 327342.
Hodkinson, P. (1998) The origins of a theory of career decision-making: a case study of hermeneutical research, British Educational Research Journal, 24, 557572.
Hodkinson, P. & Sparkes, A. C. (1997) Careership: a sociological theory of career decisionmaking, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 18, 2944.
Lareau, A. (1992) Gender differences in parent involvement in schooling, in: J. Wrigley (Ed.)
Education and gender equality (Washington, DC, The Falmer Press).
Moshonas, A. (1993) The social composition of the Greek society: hermeneutic approaches, in:
Th. Sakellaropoulos (Ed.) Modern Greek society: historic and critical approaches (Athens,
Kritiki).
Meighan, R. & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (1997) A sociology of educating (London, Cassell).
Monk, J. & Garcia-Ramon, M. D. (1996) Placing women of the European Union, in: M. D.
Garcia-Ramon & J. Monk (Eds) Women of the European Union: the politics of work and daily life
(London, Routledge).
Nash, R. (1995) Succeeding generations: family resources and access to education in New Zealand
(Oxford, Oxford University Press).
Phileleftheros [Greek Cypriot daily newspaper] (2004, July 31) Ta koritsia eixan tin timitiki tous
[Girls had their honouree day], Phileleftheros, p. 1.
Reay, D. (1995) A silent majority? Mothers in parental involvement, Womens Studies International
Forum, 18, 337348.
Reay, D. (1998) Always knowing and never being sure: familial and institutional habituses and
higher education choice, Journal of Education Policy, 13, 519529.
Rees, T. (1992) Women and the labour market (London, Routledge).
Vryonides, M. (2003a) The role of social and cultural capital in choice-making for post secondary destinations: The case of contemporary Cyprus. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, London, University of
London.
Vryonides, M. (2003b) Social capital in a historic context of modernization: its effects on Cypriot
educational choice-making, Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, 8(2), 3558.