In most ECE countries, the adult female population is less educated than their male counterparts, which puts women at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing positions with higher wages and prestige, among other things. However, this seems to be changing considerably with the younger generation. Evidence shows that when women have higher education than men, this does not always translate into better paid or higher level employment for women.
Enrolment ratios are commonly used to evaluate the current educational situation by looking at those who are presently being educated. In general, the enrolment ratios show that there are no significant differences in secondary enrolment between girls and boys. However, some gender differences appear at the upper secondary level (which gives access to university), where girls’ enrolment ratios are proportionally higher than boys’.
Sex differences in enrolment however, are more noticeable at the tertiary level. In contrast to what was the case in the past, recent data shows that women’s enrolment in tertiary education now exceeds men’s in most countries. Over the past 25 years, the overall number of students in higher education has increased. The number of women, however, has risen more rapidly in North America and Western Europe than the number of men. In 1975, while in some of the centrally planned economies, women had achieved numeric equality in tertiary education they were still a minority in all western countries. Today the situation has improved, and in majority of the ECE countries more young women than men go on to tertiary education. In over three-quarters of all countries in the ECE region, the majority of degrees at ISCED Level 6 (university degree level) are awarded to women, and in many countries, the percentage of female graduates is more than 60 per cent.
The highest tertiary enrolment ratios for women are found in North America and the Nordic countries. In contrast, men’s tertiary enrolment rates exceed women’s for example in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Czech Republic, Luxemburg, Turkey and Tajikistan.
Adult education is organised, financed or sponsored by authorities or employers, but is also often self-financed. Because of the span of adult education and the variety of ways used to provide this type of education, it is difficult to measure and compare between countries. However, it is possible to compare differences between women and men within each country. In general, there does not seem to be much difference in the proportions of adult women and men participating in some form of education and training, with few exceptions. However, the apparent similarity according to existing statistics in the proportion of women and men in adult education may of course hide a much more varied picture. If the type of education, its duration, source of financing, and subject could be ascertained and studied, some divergence may appear.
