Policy areas

EDUCATION & COMMUNICATION

 

The amount and type of education that women and men receive in their childhood, youth, and adult years, has a strong impact on many aspects of their lives. Fertility, life chances and work experiences are among the things influenced by education. In many countries of the ECE region women have historically been less likely than men to reach higher education. This trend however, has changed considerably in many ECE countries.

 

School enrolment at primary and secondary level is nearly universal in most countries of the region, where girls and boys largely enjoy the same access to basic education. However, gender-based discrimination seems to have re-emerged in some of the countries in transition, with considerable deterioration of education in the former centrally planned economies being one of the main human development costs of the transition towards a market economy.

 

The advancement and use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) varies to a large degree between and within the ECE countries. Although further research is needed to thoroughly map the gender aspect of the ICT industry, some trends can be observed.

 

The following are some of the gender issues in relation to education and communication.

 

Equal access to higher education	The overall number of students in higher education has increased in the ECE member countries over the past 25 years. In many countries where men were more likely to have higher education than women, women now have equal enrolment rate, and in some cases women’s enrolment in higher education exceeds that of men.
Equal access to the same fields of study	Some fields of study have strong gender segregation in the ECE region, reflecting the sex-stereotyped choice of study. This is later reflected in gender segregation of occupations.
Occupational segregation in education	Although the majority of teachers are women, they are concentrated at the primary and lower secondary levels. Sex-based occupational segregation within the labour market is reflected in the fact that most principals and managers in the field of education are men.
List of Education & Communication Indicators recommended by the Task Force. View Statistics associated with this Policy Area.