The map above reveals a somewhat shocking fact if you haven’t been paying attention. In the majority of the world’s countries (including virtually all of the richest) women, not men, stay in education longer.
The darker red a country is, the longer women stay in education (at all levels) relative to men and vice versa for the blue countries. Keep in mind that it’s looking at relative differences within countries and not years of education between them.
The map is based off the map below by reddit user JurijFedorov who used 2013 data from UNESCO along with bits of data from the CIA World Factbook.
Barbados has the most extreme difference with women staying in education for 3.4 years longer then men. At the other extreme is Angola where men have on average 5.3 years more schooling than women.
Somewhat surprising results include Saudi Arabia where women stay in school longer than men. Germany, Ireland, South Korea and Japan are also surprising as they the few high-income countries where men spend more years in education than women.
Here are the differences in years of education for a few countries:
- Barbados: Women 3.4 years more.
- Armenia: Women 2.4 years more
- United States: Women 1.7 years more.
- Brazil: Women 1.0 years more.
- United Kingdom: Women 0.9 years more.
- Australia: Women 0.9 years more.
- Israel: Women 0.9 years more.
- Canada: Women 0.8 years more.
- France: Women 0.7 years more.
- Bangladesh: Women 0.6 years more.
- Saudi Arabia: Women 0.5 years more.
- China: Women 0.2 years more.
- Indonesia: Women 0.1 years more.
- Ireland: Men 0.2 years more.
- Germany: Men 0.2 years more.
- Japan: Men 0.3 years more.
- Iran: Men 0.3 years more.
- India: Men 0.5 years more.
- Turkey: Men 1.2 years more.
- Pakistan: Men 1.5 years more.
- South Korea: Men 1.7 years more.
- Iraq: Men 2.7 years more.
- Afghanistan: Men 4.1 years more.
- Angola: Men 5.3 years more.
You can find a full interactive map here.
You can also have a look at the original map here:
If you liked this map you may also be interested in the following books:
- Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
- Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men
- Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences
Why do you think women are now staying in school longer than men? Leave your comments below:
splooge says
wow, cant say anthing about females are denied education when your country is similar to afghanistan or is it insulting if they lost out to saudi.
but why would they take longer in school
Bernd Ritter says
Without having looked at the data sources and background information, I still would think that the fact that boys in Germany are 0.2 y longer in education than girls could also be due to boys more often having to repeat a year at school, or needing longer to get their degree at University, while girls are achieving higher. Longer time in education doesn’t have to mean they are favoured to get educated. It can mean they need more time to get to the same result.
Philip Day says
Republic of Ireland – no data. That seems strange.