Gender and Education for All THE LEAP TO EQUALITY

Chapter 2 - Towards EFA: assessing progress

Donwload this chapter in PDF

Tertiary education and the gender goals The priorities in Africa and South Asia are to increase the female share in tertiary education. During the last decade, enrolments in higher education worldwide have continued to increase, from an estimated 69 million in 1990 to 88 million in 199724. Total enrolment rose by about 50% in developing countries over those years (from 29 million to 43.4 million), while the increase was much slower in developed countries (up 13%, from 39.5 million to 44.8 million). Over this period, women continued to progress towards achieving parity with men. Their share in tertiary enrolment rose from 46% to 46.8% at the world level. In developing countries women registered the highest gains in absolute terms (an increase of 6.2 million, as against 3.5 million in developed countries), but in the developed countries their participation – already representing more than half of total enrolment (51.2% in 1990) – increased by 1.7 points, to reach 52.9% of total enrolment. It is likely that the overall trend observed from 1990 continued during more recent years. Caution is necessary in comparing 2000 data with 1990 owing to changes introduced in ISCED 1997 (see Box 2.5). However, a rough comparison of 1990 and 2000 enrolment ratios in countries with comparable data seems to confirm an increase in the tertiary GER in practically all the countries having the data. Other sources using consistent data series report decreases in enrolments in several OECD countries since 1995 (e.g. France and Germany), owing to a decrease in population in the relevant age group, in Turkey (OECD, 2002b, p. 225) and, since 1990, in some countries of Central Asia (Armenia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) (UNICEF, 2002a, p. 77). The same sources report growth in other transition countries, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe. Table 2.18 shows the striking differences in overall levels of participation between industrialized, transitional and developing countries. While thirty-one countries, mainly from OECD and transitional Europe, have GERs at tertiary level above 45%, the great majority of developing countries have values below 30%, and almost two-thirds of them have ratios less than 15%. No countries in sub-Saharan Africa (with the exception of South Africa) or South and West Asia have GERs higher than 15% – indeed all countries of sub-Saharan Africa, with the exceptions of Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa have the equivalent of fewer than 5% of the age group enrolled. In East Asia, too, a number of countries including Cambodia, China and Viet Nam have tertiary GERs lower than 10%. Table 2.19 ranks countries within each region in increasing order of gender disparities – from the highest disparities in favour of men to the highest in favour of women. On the left are countries where male enrolment ratios are highest, and on the right those where females are ahead. It appears from Statistical annex, Table 8 and Table 2.19 that female tertiary students outnumber males in 59% of the countries. However, in sub-Saharan Africa women are poorly represented at tertiary levels, except in some southern African countries, where they are in the majority. In the Arab States there are wide variations – from Mauritania, where women represent about two students out of ten, to Qatar, where the female GER is three times that of males. One explanation for this is that many male students from Qatar pursue their studies abroad. In several countries of Asia and the Pacific the female GER is less than two-thirds of the male GER. These are Cambodia, China, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Republic of Korea in East Asia; Bangladesh, India and Nepal in South and West Asia, and Tajikistan in Central Asia. There are however a number of countries where female enrolment exceeds male enrolment, sometimes significantly so – as in Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand and Palau. In Latin America and the Caribbean, female rates are generally higher than male rates. Finally, in almost all the countries of North America and Europe, female rates distinctly exceed male rates – often substantially so – with the exception of Switzerland and Turkey, where female enrolment ratios are roughly three-quarters those of males. Thus, the gender balance of enrolments is somewhat different at tertiary levels than lower down the education system. Many countries have shifted from having a majority of male students to the balance being strongly in favour of women. The priorities in Africa and South Asia are to increase the female share. In many of the richer parts of the world, however, enrolments of men will need to increase significantly if parity at tertiary level is to be achieved. 24. 1997 is the latest year for which estimates at the world level are available and comparable with past series. See UNESCO (1999, Table II.S.3).

Distribution of students by gender and type of programme The decisions students make about their preferred tertiary studies can have a strong influence on their future lives, their jobs and the roles available to them in society. The gender composition of enrolments by level and by field of study is examined below. As shown in Box 2.7, ISCED 1997 divides tertiary education into two stages, each of which includes distinctively different programmes. Data in Statistical annex, Table 8 show that students in the first stage of tertiary education concentrate on programmes of type 5A, i.e. those which are theory-based. Programmes of type 5B, which are more practically oriented, designed for direct entry into the labour market, and usually of shorter duration, are generally less popular, accounting for about 20% of enrolments at this level worldwide. This reflects the labour market advantages of more theory-based studies of the type leading to traditional university degrees. However, there is considerable variation across countries, with students in 5B-type programmes accounting for about half, or more, of enrolments at this level in some countries25. As expected, Level 6 programmes, which are oriented towards advanced studies and research, account for less than 1% of tertiary enrolments worldwide. Programmes at this level are most well established in the industrialized countries, where they account for about 5% of tertiary enrolments. In contrast, they do not exist, or are not reported, in many developing countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa and the small islands of the Pacific and the Caribbean. Figure 2.24 indicates the extent of female participation in these two broad types of tertiary education programme. It shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, women are generally a minority in both of them, except in Lesotho, Mauritius and South Africa. Elsewhere, ratios are more balanced. However, women are more likely to outnumber men significantly in type B programmes (practically oriented programmes preparing for direct entry into the labour market). There are several examples of this pattern in each region. There are also many countries, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America and Western Europe, where women are in the majority in type A programmes as well. Nevertheless, the gender pattern in terms of career choice would be clearer if programmes could be examined not only in terms of level but also in terms of field of study within each level. The situation is different as regards programmes preparing for advanced research qualifications (ISCED Level 6). Here, women are much more often in the minority – even in more industrialized countries (Figure 2.25). The exceptions are provided by about half of the countries shown in Latin America, the Caribbean and Central Asia, where women comprise the majority of Level 6 students, and by a quarter of the European countries shown26. It may be concluded, that, although with wide variability between and within the different regions, there is a pattern whereby female participation in higher education tends to diminish as one moves from ISCED Level 5B (practically oriented programmes of shorter duration) to Level 5A (theory-based programmes) to Level 6 (advanced research programmes). 25. These include, inter alia, Belgium, China, Cyprus, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Namibia, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone and Slovenia. 26. It should be recalled that these proportions often refers to a comparatively low enrolment

Female enrolment by field of study The gender pattern in the choice of fields of study in tertiary education is a key issue in debates about gender equality. The gender pattern in the selection of fields of study in tertiary education is a key issue in debates about gender equality. The question as to whether differences in this pattern reflect gender preferences or ‘specialization’, or whether they are a more direct result of cultural and social stereotypes, is one of the aspects of the debate (see discussion in Chapter 3). Analysis of the main gender patterns in the choices of, or orientation towards, specific fields of study is, therefore, essential to inform the debate. Table 9in the Statistical annex shows the distribution of enrolments among the different fields of study and the level of female participation in each field. In general, although the distribution changes across countries, the broad field of ‘social sciences, business and law’ attracts the largest number of enrolments (often more than one-third of the total) in almost all countries. It is generally followed by ‘education’ in sub-Saharan Africa and by ‘humanities and arts’ in many countries of the Asia and Pacific region, while ‘engineering, manufacturing and construction’ programmes come second in most countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe. The fields ‘health and welfare’ and ‘science’ follow, in this order, for most countries, while the lowest enrolments are reported in ‘agriculture’ and ‘services’ programmes (accounting for less than 5% of the total in most countries). As regards female participation, Statistical annex Table 9 shows that women are most numerous in the field of education, where they often represent three-quarters or more of enrolments, especially in industrialized and transition countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is an exception, however: in only three countries (Botswana, Mauritius and Swaziland) do women account for more than half of the total enrolments in education programmes. In most of the other regions the second field chosen by women is health and welfare, where women often represent between two-thirds and three-quarters of the students. Again, sub-Saharan Africa is an exception, where the proportion of women exceeds 50% in only four countries (Angola, Botswana, Madagascar and Swaziland) – perhaps because many health-related programmes are provided at ISCED Level 5B, in the form of short programmes of professional orientation. The next most frequent choice for women is humanities and arts. In contrast, female presence is weakest in engineering, manufacturing and construction courses and in science and agriculture. The first of these is widely variable, often being around 20% in North America and Western Europe, but higher in transition countries. Notwithstanding these variations, women have undoubtedly made enormous progress in scientific and technological disciplines over the last few decades. Table 2.20shows rough estimates of the weighted average female participation rates in the various fields of study for 2000. These values have been compared with the regional averages obtained for the same regions in 1982 (UNESCO, 1985). The data must be used with caution as the countries included in the regional groupings are often not exactly the same for the two years. Moreover, it was not always possible to identify exactly the countries included in the 1982 figures. For Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico was the only populous country with comparable data available for 2000. Nevertheless, even if the table has only illustrative value, it strongly suggests that the female presence has increased everywhere, with the exception of the fields of education and agriculture in Africa. Women have continued to progress in their traditional fields, such as social sciences, humanities, services and health-related programmes. However progress has also occurred in natural sciences and engineering and – outside Africa – in agriculture. It would, of course, be necessary to examine more detailed statistics to determine in which particular disciplines women made most gains and where they still lag behind. Female presence is weakest in engineering, manufacturing and construction courses and in science and agriculture.

Foreign students The rapidly increasing international circulation of goods, people and knowledge has boosted the demand for study abroad. The rapidly increasing international circulation of goods, people and knowledge has reinforced the demand for study abroad. This reflects the wish of young students, both from developing and developed countries, to broaden their knowledge and skills, sometimes encouraged by there being limited educational provision at home. Host countries receive direct benefits from tuition fees paid by foreign students and sometimes from increased scale economies in tertiary education services. In addition, useful links with the elite of developing countries may stem from supplying such programmes to foreign youth. There may be benefits to the sending countries too – but usually only if the students return home. However, students are often able to work and stay in host countries long after their studies are completed. This ‘brain drain’ brings considerable costs to many of the sending countries concerned. Data on foreign students are reported by sixty-seven countries, and data by gender by forty-seven of these. Some developed countries accommodate a substantial number of foreign students. Five of them (Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States) are reported to receive just over two-thirds of all such students (Statistical annex, Table 8). It has been shown that women often represent the majority of tertiary students in industrialized countries. However, among foreign students the overall proportion of women is somewhat lower (45.5%). In the two major host countries, the United States and the United Kingdom, the proportion of female foreign students is 42% and 48% respectively (which compares with 56% and 55%, respectively, among their total student populations). In other words, young women pursue foreign study less frequently than their male colleagues. It would be useful to know more about the gender composition of foreign students by country of origin, but no such statistics are yet available. The analysis of more qualitative factors that determine the decision to study abroad (family and social factors, academic support or counselling) or that attract selectively male or female students (particular disciplines, social and cultural environment of certain host countries) would also be helpful.