Economies around the world are shuddering from the effects of Covid, climate change and war. When economies are struggling, they need the skills and creativity of the broadest range of workers just to keep up. But many societies are hobbling themselves by not encouraging their girls and women to fulfil their potential to participate fully in the economic and social life of their country.
In the best of times, limiting the opportunities available to half the population, whether intentionally or inadvertently, is a waste of valuable resources as well as a personal privation for the individual girls and women involved. Too often, women’s contribution to the economy lags behind that of men – not because women are unwilling to offer their skills to the labour force, but because they have been prevented from developing their skills to the fullest.
This report, Gender, Education and Skills: The persistence of gender gaps in education and skills, examines the impressive progress made over the past couple of decades in access to education for girls in OECD and partner countries; but it also highlights the persistent disparities in educational and professional outcomes that stimy the realisation of gender equality in the workplace as those girls become women. Using data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Education at a Glance (EAG) and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the report provides an overview of how these disparities manifest themselves at several important points during the course of a person’s life: towards the end of compulsory education, in tertiary education, and at entry into the labour market.