Focus International / WIDNET (Women In Development NETwork)

Tertiary education
Last update: Dec 2007
	Tertiary gross enrolment ratio				Women's share of tertiary enrolment
Country or area	Year		Women	Men	Year		%
Afghanistan	2004		—	2	2004		20
Albania	2004		23	15	2004		62
Algeria	2005		24	17	2005		57
Andorra	2005	a	9	8	2005		51
Angola	2002	a	1	1	2002	a	40
Anguilla	2005	b	5	2	2005		76
Antigua and Barbuda	2004		n/a	n/a	2004		n/a
Argentina	2004		76	54	2004		58
Armenia	2005		31	25	2005		55
Aruba	2005	a	40	27	2005		60
Australia	2005		80	64	2005		54
Austria	2005		55	46	2005		54
Azerbaijan	2005		14	16	2005		47
Bahamas	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Bahrain	2005		50	22	2005		68
Bangladesh	2005		4	8	2005		33
Barbados	2001		54	22	2001		71
Belarus	2005		72	53	2005		57
Belgium	2005		70	56	2005		54
Belize	2004		4	2	2004		70
Benin	2001	b	1	5	2001	b	20
Bermuda	2002	a	66	56	2002	b	55
Bhutan	...		...	...	2001	b	34
Botswana	2005		5	5	2005		50
Brazil	2004		27	21	2004		56
British Virgin Islands	2005	a	106	46	2005	b	69
Brunei Darussalam	2005		20	10	2005		67
Bulgaria	2005		47	41	2005		52
Burkina Faso	2005		1	3	2005		31
Burundi	2005	b	1	3	2005	b	28
Cambodia	2005		2	5	2005		31
Cameroon	2005	b	5	7	2005		40
Canada	2004	b	72	53	2004	b	56
Cape Verde	2005		7	7	2005		51
Cayman Islands	2001	b	28	9	2001		75
Central African Republic	2000		1	3	2000		16
Chad	2005	b	—	2	2005	b	13
Chile	2005		47	49	2005		48
China	2005		20	21	2005		47
Colombia	2005		31	28	2005		51
Comoros	2004	b	2	3	2004	b	43
Congo	2003	b	1	6	2003	b	16
Cook Islands	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Costa Rica	2005	b	28	23	2005	b	54
Croatia	2003		42	35	2003		53
Cuba	2005	b	78	46	2005	b	62
Cyprus	2005	a	35	31	2005		52
Czech Republic	2005		52	44	2005		53
Côte d'Ivoire	1999		3	10	1999		26
Denmark	2005		94	67	2005		57
Djibouti	2005		2	3	2005		42
Dominica	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Dominican Republic	2004	b	41	25	2004	b	61
El Salvador	2005		21	17	2005		55
Equatorial Guinea	2000		2	4	2000		...
Eritrea	2004		—	2	2004		13
Estonia	2005		82	50	2005		62
Ethiopia	2005		1	4	2005		24
Fiji	2005	b	17	14	2005	b	53
Finland	2005		101	83	2005		54
France	2005		64	49	2005		55
Gabon	1999		5	9	1999		36
Gambia	2004		—	2	2004		19
Georgia	2005		47	45	2005		50
Ghana	2005		4	7	2005		35
Gibraltar	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Greece	2005		95	83	2005		51
Grenada	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Guatemala	2003	b	8	11	2003	b	43
Guinea	2005		1	5	2005		19
Guinea-Bissau	2001	b	—	1	2001	b	16
Guyana	2005		13	6	2005		68
Honduras	2004	b	20	13	2004	b	59
Hong Kong (China), SAR	2005		31	32	2005		51
Hungary	2005		78	53	2005		58
Iceland	2005	b	93	50	2005	b	65
India	2005		9	13	2005		39
Indonesia	2005	b	15	19	2005	b	44
Iran, Islamic Republic of	2005		25	23	2005		51
Iraq	2005	b	11	19	2005	b	36
Ireland	2005		67	52	2005		55
Israel	2005		66	50	2005		56
Italy	2005		76	56	2005		57
Jamaica	2003	b	26	12	2003	b	70
Japan	2005		52	59	2005		46
Jordan	2005		40	38	2005		50
Kazakhstan	2005		62	44	2005		58
Kenya	2004		2	3	2004		48
Kiribati	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Kuwait	2005		29	11	2005		70
Kyrgyzstan	2005		46	37	2005		55
Lao People's Democratic Republic	2005		7	9	2005		41
Latvia	2005		96	54	2005		63
Lebanon	2005		54	47	2005		53
Lesotho	2005		4	3	2005		57
Liberia	2000		13	18	2000		35
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	2003	b	59	54	2003		...
Liechtenstein	2004	a	14	36	2004		27
Lithuania	2005		93	59	2005		60
Luxembourg	2004	b	13	11	2004	b	53
Macao, China	2005		52	71	2005		43
Madagascar	2005		2	3	2005		47
Malawi	2004		—	1	2004		35
Malaysia	2004		36	28	2004		55
Maldives	2004	b	—	—	2004	b	70
Mali	2005	b	2	3	2005	b	31
Malta	2005		37	27	2005		56
Marshall Islands	2003	b	19	15	2003	b	56
Mauritania	2005		2	5	2005		25
Mauritius	2005		19	15	2005		55
Mexico	2005		24	24	2005		50
Monaco	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Mongolia	2005		54	33	2005		61
Montserrat	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Morocco	2005		10	12	2005		45
Mozambique	2005		1	2	2005		33
Myanmar	2001	b	14	8	1999	b	61
Namibia	2004		7	6	2003		53
Nauru	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Nepal	2004		3	8	2004		28
Netherlands	2005		63	58	2005		51
Netherlands Antilles	2002		28	19	2001		58
New Zealand	2005		99	66	2005		59
Nicaragua	2003	b	19	17	2003	b	52
Niger	2005		1	1	2005		30
Nigeria	2004		7	13	2004		35
Niue	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Norway	2005		97	63	2005		60
Oman	2005		19	18	2005		51
Pakistan	2005		4	5	2005		45
Palau	2002	b	57	27	2002	b	63
Palestinian Autonomous Territories	2005	b	39	37	2005	b	50
Panama	2005		55	34	2005		61
Papua New Guinea	1999	b	1	3	1999	b	35
Paraguay	2004	b	28	21	2004	b	57
Peru	2005	b	34	33	2005	b	50
Philippines	2005		31	25	2005		54
Poland	2005		74	53	2005		58
Portugal	2005		64	49	2005		56
Qatar	2005		33	10	2005		68
Republic of Korea	2005		69	110	2005		37
Republic of Moldova	2005	a	41	27	2005		59
Romania	2005		50	40	2005		55
Russian Federation	2005	b	82	60	2005	b	57
Rwanda	2005	b	2	3	2005	b	39
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Saint Lucia	2005		20	7	2005		74
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Samoa	2001	b	7	8	2001	b	44
San Marino	...		...	...	2000		58
Sao Tome and Principe	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Saudi Arabia	2005		34	23	2005		58
Serbia and Montenegro	2001	a	40	33	2001		54
Seychelles	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Sierra Leone	2002	b	1	3	2002	b	29
Slovakia	2005		46	36	2005		55
Slovenia	2005		96	67	2005		58
Solomon Islands	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Somalia	2005		—	—	2005		...
South Africa	2005		17	14	2005		55
Spain	2005		74	60	2005		54
Sudan	2000	b	6	6	2000		...
Suriname	2002		15	9	2002		62
Swaziland	2005		5	4	2005		52
Sweden	2005		100	64	2005		60
Switzerland	2005		43	52	2005		46
Tajikistan	2005		9	26	2005		26
Thailand	2005		45	41	2005		52
The former Yugoslav Rep of Macedonia	2005		35	25	2005		57
Timor-Leste	2002	a	12	8	2002	a	53
Togo	2001	b	1	6	2001	b	17
Tokelau	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Tonga	2004	b	8	5	2004	b	60
Trinidad and Tobago	2005	b	14	11	2004		55
Tunisia	2005		35	25	2005		57
Turkey	2005		26	36	2005		42
Turks and Caicos Islands	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Tuvalu	2005		n/a	n/a	2005		n/a
Uganda	2004		3	4	2004		38
Ukraine	2005		75	63	2005		54
United Arab Emirates	2003	b	39	12	2003	b	66
United Kingdom	2005		70	50	2005		57
United Republic of Tanzania	2005	b	1	2	2005	b	32
United States	2005		97	69	2005		57
Uruguay	2004	b	55	27	2004		66
Uzbekistan	2004	b	14	17	2003		44
Vanuatu	2004	b	4	6	2004	b	36
Venezuela	2003	b	41	38	2003	b	51
Viet Nam	2005		13	19	2005		41
Yemen	2005		5	14	2005		26
Zambia	2000	b	1	3	2000	b	32
Zimbabwe	2003	b	3	5	2003	b	39

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Sources:

Gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, table 14: Tertiary indicators, available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed Oct 2007).

Women’s share of tertiary enrolment
Calculated by the United Nations Statistics Division based on data published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in table 14: Tertiary indicators, available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed Oct 2007).

Footnotes:

n/a	Not applicable.
…	Not available.
—	Magnitude nil or negligible.
a	National estimation.
b	UIS estimation.

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Technical notes:

Statistics on enrolment are compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS) from data provided by national Governments in response to UIS questionnaires.

The 1997 International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 97) defines tertiary education as education programmes at ISCED levels 5 and 6. Education at ISCED level 5 includes programmes that are theoretically based or research preparatory (history, philosophy, mathematics, etc.) or giving access to professions with high skills requirements (e.g., medicine, dentistry, architecture, etc.), and those programmes that are practical, technical or occupationally specific. Level 6 are tertiary programmes that lead to the award of an advanced research qualification. The programmes are therefore devoted to advanced study and original research and are not based on course-work only.

The tertiary gross enrolment ratio is defined as enrolment at third level, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population in the theoretical school age group corresponding to this level of education. For the tertiary level, the population is the five-year age group following on from the secondary-school leaving age. The tertiary gross enrolment ratio is used to show the general level of participation in this level of education.

The women’s share of tertiary enrolment refers to the percentage of students enrolled in tertiary education who are female. This indicator helps assess gender disparity with regard to participation in tertiary education. When the indicator approaches 50% it reflects a good level of gender parity.