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Carry out the Various Tasks in Work during their First Year at University Reproduction theories, focusing mainly on social determinants other than those inherent to the school system itself, have shown the important role educational institutions can play in perpetuating social inequality. High female attendance rates in higher educational establishments and the high success rates achieved by girls during the last three decades show that important changes have occurred in this respect. Sociologists have taken this improvement as a result mainly of girls’ attitudes, since they are thought to take the rules and standards of education more seriously than boys. However, very few sociological studies have actually examined young people’s approach to the learning process and the way they perform educational tasks. In this paper, we propose to examine the question of gender differences in higher education, focusing on how male and female students carry out the various tasks involved in work during their first year at University. Results show that the way students manage their time and handle their work, in general, and the way they prepare for examinations differ considerably between the two sexes.