Out of the 22 million pupils in the European Union studying at upper secondary level in 2014, almost 11 million (or 48%) were enrolled in vocational education. In twelve EU Member States, more than half of all upper secondary pupils studied vocational programmes. Vocational education at upper secondary level was somewhat dominated by men, who accounted for 56% of pupils, compared with 44% women. This pattern can be observed in almost all Member States. Ensuring that young people develop the skills and competences needed by the labour market by promoting vocational education and training is one of the initiatives of the European Commission to tackle youth unemployment. This information is issued by Eurostat, and shows only a small selection of the wide range of data on education available at Eurostat.