The purpose of this research paper is the investigation of , and the sociological approach to, and interpretation of
the attitudes of male and female students in the University Department of Primary Education (U.D.P.E.) at the
University of Patras in Greece, before the enforcement of the IMF Memorandum, concerning the choice of the
teaching profession and the corresponding scientific field of studies. In particular, we will be concerned with the
following research questions: a) what are the attitudes of male and female students regarding the reasons for the
choice of the particular scientific field and b) What is the influence of the gender of the male and female students
of the U.D.P.E. at the University of Patras as far as the choice of studies in the particular scientific field is
concerned. The most significant findings of the work reveal that in the particular University Department female
students are overrepresented in percentage terms, a fact which demonstrates the ‘feminizing’ of the Department
in question. It also became apparent that the educational and professional choice of the female students in the
particular University department is guided by their gender, which directs their practice. Finally, the prospect of
immediate and certain professional employment which studies in the field of teaching in Greece promised,
before the appearance of the economic crisis and the enforcement of the austerity measures, emerged as the most
significant factor in the choice of the teaching profession by both sexes.