CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 a. Outside business administration, which continued to attract young people because of the private-sector jobs that they hope they would land after they graduate, women concentrate in areas (education) that do not pay as much as the fields that men specialize in (engineering; ADB/WB 1999). b. Within a field (such as business administration and medicine), women and men tend to specialize in different courses. Women, for instance, take nursing, pharmacy and midwifery, while men go to medicine and physical therapy. With the increased demand for nursing and physical therapy overseas, however, medical school graduates have been known to return to school to enroll in these courses. In engineering, similar gender tracking had been observed. Women generally tended to prepare for careers that do not pay as well as the men’s. A study of the education sector in 1998 showed that among the 1995 graduates in medical and health courses who were surveyed in 1997, nursing and pharmacy paid the lowest (PhP7217 per month) compared to medicine (PhP9508). Marine engineering, which accounts for a large share of enrolment in engineering, reportedly paid an average of PhP10,832 a month, much more than civil engineering (PhP8,476), the engineering course of choice among women (ADB/WB 1999). c. A conference of the Women’s Studies Association of the Philippines (WSAP), a professional organization of Women’s Studies practitioners, held in July 2001 demonstrated how high school guidance counselors contribute to gender stereotyping in courses at the tertiary level. It also pointed out that the instructional materials and classroom practices in the basic education levels tended to reinforce stereotypes not only regarding gender roles, which affect career decisions, but also gender relations, which normalize peer harassment of girl pupils and students. Technical and vocational education 295. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) manages the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the country. TVET covers school-based training, non-formal center-based (skills development) education, industry based training, and community-based sector training. The school-based system provides course of one to three year’s duration for women and men who have completed a full secondary education. Private institutions dominate the system, accounting for about 90 percent of graduates. The non-formal education provides courses or training for a wide range of clients including out-of-school youth and women seeking to enter the workforce, among others. The industry-based training and industry partnership refers to a range of training arrangements, which are in place. The community-based sector provides training on livelihood and entrepreneurship. 296. A national network of TESDA provincial centers and accredited training providers offer skills training programs to out-of-school youth, unemployed and employed women. TESDA enrolls more than 150,000 a year (BLES 2000). Women account for 40 percent of the total enrolment and graduates in the formal training programs. Its non-formal training programs had begun involving more women. In 1997, women made up 45 percent of total enrolment. This rose to 64 percent in 1997, although it fell to 59 percent in 1999. Of the total enrollment, only around 84