Inhalt: "The options women have to shape their lives have dramatically increased in the last decades, and this is true for all European countries. Changes in their societies with respect to women's rights have been fundamental, amongst other things as a result of the women's movement, which caused one of the greatest social revolutions of the 20th centusy. But considering the different starting points of the women's movement and all the other historical, cultural and political differences in the European nations it is no surprise that the situation of women is different, too, and that the process of reaching equal status with men has come to different stages in different areas of life. And, of course, there are still some fields of remarkable gender inequalities which can be noticed all over Europe. This book wants to give some insight into the differences as well as the similarities of women's lives, their educational and occupational attainment and their choices with respect to occupational career and family life in several European countries. The authors come from different countries and represent different disciplines. Therefore the chapters cover a large variety of scientific approaches and draw a fine-grained picture of the situation of women's lives in Europe. " (publisher's description). Contents: Claudia Quaiser-Pohl & Martina Endepohls-Ulpe : Education, occupational career and family work - similarities and differences in women's choices in Europe (Editorial) (7-14); I Gender and education: Martina Endepohls-Ulpe: Are females or males disadvantaged in contemporary educational systems? (15-28); Christine Fontanini & Céine Avenel: Ongoing training systems in France with regard to gender: "teacher effects" at universities (29-40); Ewa Malinowska: The impact of gender knowledge on one's behaviour at a micro-social level - based on statements from learning adults (41-52); II Women's participation in STEM fields: Claudia Quaiser-Pohl: Women's choices in STEM - statistical data and theoretical approaches explaining the gender gap (53-62); Jacqueline de Weerd & Els Rommes: To beta or not to beta? The role of teachers in the gendered choice of science and technology by secondary school students (63-78); Martina Endepohls-Ulpe, Judith Ebach, Josef Seiter & Nora Kaul: Barriers and motivational factors for taking up a career in a technological field in Germany and Austria (79-94); Sonja Virtanen: Searching for ways to encourage and enable equal access for girls to study technology (95-106); III Women's occupational careers: Elisabeth Sander: Biographies of female scientists in Austria - results of an interview study (107-122); Christine Fontanini: Is there a relation between horse riding and the desire to become a veterinarian? (123-134); Gwen Elprana, Sibylle Stiehl, Magdalena Gatzka & Jörg Felfe: Gender differences in Motivation to Lead in Germany (135-150); Elmira Bancheva & Maria Ivanova: Leadership styles of women in Bulgaria (151-166); IV Women's roles in family life and family development: Anna-Catharina Grohmann, Claudia Quaiser-Pohl & Marcus Hasselhorn: Socio-cultural changes, values, and parental well-being - a comparison of Spanish and German mothers (167-182); Silke Diestelkamp & Claudia Quaiser-Pohl: Identity development after the birth of the first child - an empirical study of first-time mothers in the Republic of Ireland (183-198); Krystyna Dzwonkowska-Godula & Joanna Brzezinska: Gender relations in family - equal parenting (199-210); Insa Fooken: Tate divorces' in the lives of German women from three different birth cohorts - a lasting impact of World War II? (211-223).