Professional qualification – Transition to the labour market. As far as professional qualification and opportunities for graduates on the job market are concerned, three issues are of particular interest regarding equal opportunities:

• What positions do the BA degrees qualify students for on the job market, and what positions are they recognised for?
• How horizontally and/or vertically segregated are the relevant job markets in terms of gender? How is this reflected in course guidance and curriculum design?
• To what extent are interdisciplinary degrees recognised on the job market?

For the sake of equal opportunities, it is necessary to monitor the job market in a systematic way, looking in particular at gender differences. These findings should then be reflected in course guidance and curriculum design. With few exceptions, this question has not yet rooted itself in the consciousness of those involved in development and accreditation. This must be quickly remedied in the interests of creating equal opportunities for female and male graduates on the labour market. Professional qualification cannot be defined in a gender-neutral fashion, since the job markets themselves are segregated. Instead, it must incorporate in itself the segregation mechanisms found in professional practice. This is particularly true for degree courses typically thought of as male.
The question of professional qualification is also problematic when it comes to gender studies and degree courses that include a significant number of gender modules. These are often interdisciplinary in nature, in line with the wishes of many students and academics. However, we currently have little knowledge of how these degree courses are viewed on the job market. Thus there is an urgent need for an active information policy at the universities offering such degrees, ideally in cooperation with relevant trade associations and professional bodies.

Transition to Master's - Vertical segregation. According to specialists in the accreditation agencies, the transition from BA to MA represents an important staging post for decisions about what subject to study or whether to switch university. Female and male students use this opportunity equally. The new system makes it possible to provide orientation to students that is much more precise and differentiated in terms of gender than in the past.
In terms of gender justice, however, the main issue is what proportion of students go on to take higher degrees, i. e. masters, PhDs and post-doctoral degrees (Habiltationen). Will the introduction of a two-tier degree structure mean that the continuous drop-off in the proportion of women kicks in at the transition-point from BA to MA, rather than further along the path (from degree to PhD, to post-doctoral degree, to professorship), as is the case in all subjects at present?
Currently available data does not allow any firm conclusions. According to the German Rectors' Conference, just under 203,000 students were enrolled in Bachelor's degrees in the winter semester of 2005/2006, of whom just under 109,000 were women. The proportion of women taking Bachelor's degrees was thus 46.4% – just two percentage points less than the share of female students overall (48.1%) (HRK 2006:19). However, of the over 46,000 students enrolled in Master's degrees, only 18,500 were female – just 40% of the total (ibid.). This is an alarming statistic, to say the least. See [HRK]

Support for young female academics. In future, access to a career in higher education will be via a Master's degree. This means that students will face the first hurdle at an earlier point in time. The question arises of whether the introduction of a two-tier degree system will make the qualification gap between male and female graduates even wider.
As well as recording data – and analysing it separately for men and women – institutions of higher education must implement measures in their Bachelor's degrees aimed at encouraging female students to go on to take a Master's. In addition to mentoring programmes, targeted programmes of assistance (funding) are required, similar to those that exist for PhD and post-doctoral degree students. Specific guidance services should be set up. In many subjects it may also be useful to introduce gender quotas for student assistant jobs, as future academics often hold such positions at the beginning of their careers.