According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, 88 percent of females worldwide had primary education, compared to 91 percent of males. By comparison, more females than males had attained tertiary education. The Global Gender Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education, and health-based criteria. In 2020, the leading country was Iceland with a score of 0.87.

United States US: Secondary Education: Pupils: % Female data was reported at 49.172 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 49.145 % for 2014. United States US: Secondary Education: Pupils: % Female data is updated yearly, averaging 48.936 % from Dec 1972 (Median) to 2015, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 49.713 % in 1998 and a record low of 34.965 % in 1972. United States US: Secondary Education: Pupils: % Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Education Statistics. Female pupils as a percentage of total pupils at secondary level includes enrollments in public and private schools.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

As of April 2021, just over 20 percent of female children between the ages of 15 and 19 in India completed at least 12 years of schooling. On the other hand, approximately four percent of girls in this age group did not attend school. Meanwhile, the share of female children not receiving any schooling amounted to roughly six percent among those aged six to nine years and almost three percent among those aged 10 to 14 years.

United States US: Primary Education: Pupils: % Female data was reported at 48.937 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 48.838 % for 2014. United States US: Primary Education: Pupils: % Female data is updated yearly, averaging 48.719 % from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2015, with 31 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 49.474 % in 1999 and a record low of 48.294 % in 1983. United States US: Primary Education: Pupils: % Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Female pupils as a percentage of total pupils at primary level include enrollments in public and private schools.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data was reported at 97.698 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 96.379 % for 2014. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data is updated yearly, averaging 94.920 % from Dec 1972 (Median) to 2015, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 98.104 % in 1998 and a record low of 60.766 % in 1972. United States US: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Education Statistics. Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Secondary education completes the provision of basic education that began at the primary level, and aims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and human development, by offering more subject- or skill-oriented instruction using more specialized teachers.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

In an impressive increase from years past, 39 percent of women in the United States had completed four years or more of college in 2022. This figure is up from 3.8 percent of women in 1940. A significant increase can also be seen in males, with 36.2 percent of the U.S. male population having completed four years or more of college in 2022, up from 5.5 percent in 1940.

4- and 2-year colleges

In the United States, college students are able to choose between attending a 2-year postsecondary program and a 4-year postsecondary program. Generally, attending a 2-year program results in an Associate’s Degree, and 4-year programs result in a Bachelor’s Degree.

Many 2-year programs are designed so that attendees can transfer to a college or university offering a 4-year program upon completing their Associate’s. Completion of a 4-year program is the generally accepted standard for entry-level positions when looking for a job.

Earnings after college

Factors such as gender, degree achieved, and the level of postsecondary education can have an impact on employment and earnings later in life. Some Bachelor’s degrees continue to attract more male students than female, particularly in STEM fields, while liberal arts degrees such as education, languages and literatures, and communication tend to see higher female attendance.

All of these factors have an impact on earnings after college, and despite nearly the same rate of attendance within the American population between males and females, men with a Bachelor’s Degree continue to have higher weekly earnings on average than their female counterparts.

In 2022, the gross enrollment rate for secondary education in New Zealand stood at over 100 percent for both girls and boys in the relevant age group. That same year, the lower secondary enrollment rate in Laos amounted to approximately 56 percent among girls and about 58 percent among boys.

Across all OECD countries included (except for Japan), there was a higher share of women than men among the new first-time higher education students in 2022. This reflects a general trend across developed countries that women tend to reach higher levels of education than that of men.

Canada CA: Primary Education: Pupils: % Female data was reported at 48.750 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 48.766 % for 2016. Canada CA: Primary Education: Pupils: % Female data is updated yearly, averaging 48.645 % from Dec 1971 (Median) to 2017, with 43 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 48.891 % in 2014 and a record low of 47.918 % in 1989. Canada CA: Primary Education: Pupils: % Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Female pupils as a percentage of total pupils at primary level include enrollments in public and private schools.;UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/). Data as of February 2020.;Weighted average;

As of 2021, India recorded a higher nationwide share of men with at least 10 years of schooling than that of women. Around half of the male population age between 15 and 49 years stayed in school for at least 10 years, compared to only 41 percent of their female counterparts. The gender education gap also remained evident in rural India, with only one out of three women in this region receiving at least 10 years of schooling.

Abstract

Many theories of economic growth stress the role of human capital in the form of education, but empirical studies have been hampered by inadequate data. The authors describe a data set on educational attainment for 120 countries over five- year periods from 1960 to 1985. Census and survey figures fill over 40% of the cells, and the remainder are estimated from school-enrollment data by a perpetual- inventory method. The data refer to male and female attainment of the adult population at four levels: no schooling, primary, secondary, and higher. They also provide a rough breakdown into incomplete and complete attainment at the three levels of schooling.

Geographic coverage

The authors describe a data set on educational attainment for 120 countries over five- year periods from 1960 to 1985.

Kind of data

Aggregate data [agg]

Mode of data collection

Other [oth]

In Sweden, the number of students participating in different types of education remained stable for both genders during the first half of the last decade, but has increased steadily since 2015. Furthermore, there are far more women participating in education in Sweden than men, 657,000 and 507,000, respectively. In 2021, a total of 1.2 million people participated in education in Sweden.

Women dominate higher education

The main reason behind the high number of women in education is that they dominate in higher education in terms of number of students. Almost 234,000 students in higher education are women, compared to 149,000 men. Furthermore, there are more women in the group 'other students' and in adult education as well.

Youth the largest age group

In 2021, youth between 16 and 18 years of age made up the largest age group in education in Sweden with above 337,000. In higher education, students between 20 and 24 made up the largest age group.

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, there were approximately 2.49 million women in the education sector in the UK, compared with just over one million men.

Egypt EG: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data was reported at 85.165 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 82.964 % for 2014. Egypt EG: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data is updated yearly, averaging 61.987 % from Dec 1971 (Median) to 2016, with 39 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 85.165 % in 2016 and a record low of 21.152 % in 1971. Egypt EG: School Enrollment: Secondary: Female: % Gross data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank: Education Statistics. Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Secondary education completes the provision of basic education that began at the primary level, and aims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and human development, by offering more subject- or skill-oriented instruction using more specialized teachers.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

In 2023, more women than men had a post-secondary education of three years or more in Sweden. In detail, 29 percent of the Swedish women and 19 percent of the Swedish men had attained that education level. On the other hand, a higher share of men than women had a form of upper secondary education. More than one fourth of men and one fifth of women had an upper secondary education of three years. Women’s access to education More women than men completing post-secondary education programs is not a trend limited to Sweden. Across all OECD countries in 2021, more women were first-time higher education students than men. A large portion of these women are entering into healthcare and education programs, while less than a quarter are entering into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. Issues facing Swedish women today While more Swedish women are accessing education and leading autonomous lives, they still face many gender-based issues. In 2022, domestic abuse, equal pay, and sexual violence were all cited as top gender issues for Swedish women. More Swedish women than men report feeling unsafe at night, and for both genders, concerns about crime are increasing.

In 2023, about 65.1 percent of students in universities of education in South Korea were women, which was the largest proportion of female students at any school level. Masters-level graduate schools followed with a female enrollment of about 55.7 percent.

In 2023, approximately 69.54 percent of the female population who attended school in Indonesia completed their senior high school, slightly higher than the male population. The education completion rate in Indonesia decreases as the education level gets higher.

In Iceland, women generally have a higher educational level than men. While close to 46 percent of Icelandic women have a tertiary education, less than 30 percent of men have the same. 42 percent of men in Iceland have an upper secondary education, whereas a little more than 30 percent of the women have the same. Despite this, women earn averagely less than men in Iceland.

In 2022, Sri Lanka had the highest female to male ratio across the Asia-Pacific region, with on average 1.4 female students for every one male student enrolled in tertiary education. Comparatively, Bangladesh had significantly more male students than female students enrolled in tertiary education.

Japan JP: School Enrollment: Primary: Female: % Net data was reported at 98.964 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 98.506 % for 2014. Japan JP: School Enrollment: Primary: Female: % Net data is updated yearly, averaging 98.878 % from Dec 1971 (Median) to 2015, with 29 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 99.761 % in 1994 and a record low of 96.902 % in 1974. Japan JP: School Enrollment: Primary: Female: % Net data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Japan – Table JP.World Bank: Education Statistics. Net enrollment rate is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).