The Representation of Women as Post-Secondary Graduates and the Role of Educational Systems: Evidence From 51 Countries

Abstract

Women now earn well over half of bachelor’s and master’s degrees awarded in most countries around the world. Although this gender revolution in higher education is a global one, there is a good deal of cross-national variation in the representation of women as recipients of post-secondary degrees. Using a sample of both OECD and non-OECD countries, this study examines whether differences in educational systems help explain this cross-national variation. Women’s representation as master’s degree recipients are most strongly correlated with the institutional features of a country’s education system. The empirical results show that countries with later ages of first selection into distinct educational programs are associated with a greater representation of women earning master’s and (though this finding is less robust) doctoral degrees. The empirical evidence also shows that those countries with more educational programs available to students at age 15 award greater shares of master’s degrees to women.