LAC Equity Lab: Gender - Education

In the last decade, gender gaps in education have closed and even reversed in many countries. Almost all LAC countries closed their gender gaps in primary education. In secondary and tertiary education, girls’ enrollment significantly outnumbers boys’ enrollment rates. This dashboard shows various education indicators by gender since 2000, including school enrollment and literacy rates.



Definition of education indicators:

School enrollment, primary, female (% net): Net female enrollment rate in primary school. The ratio of female children of official primary school age who are enrolled in primary school relative to the female population of official primary school age.

School enrollment, primary, male (% net): Net male enrollment rate in primary school. The ratio of male children of official primary school age who are enrolled in primary school to the male population of official primary school age.

School enrollment secondary (% net): Net enrollment rate in secondary. The ratio of children of official secondary school age who are enrolled in secondary school to the population of official secondary school age.

School enrollment tertiary (% gross): Gross enrolment ratio in tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). The total enrollment in tertiary education (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the total population of the five-year age group following on from secondary school leaving.

Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%): Ratio of female to male primary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary level in public and private schools.

Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%): Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools.

Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment (%): Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment is the percentage of women to men enrolled at tertiary level in public and private schools.

Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above): Adult (15+) female literacy rate (%). The percentage of females aged 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of literate females aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.

Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above): Adult (15+) male literacy rate (%). The percentage of males aged 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of literate males aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.

Ratio of young literate females to males (ages 15-24): Gender parity index for youth literacy rate is the ratio of female youth literacy rate to male youth literacy rate. It is calculated by dividing the female value for the indicator by the male value for the indicator. A GPI equal to 1 indicates parity between females and males. In general, a value less than 1 indicates disparity in favor of males and a value greater than 1 indicates disparity in favor of females.

The SEDLAC (CEDLAS and WB) harmonization is an effort to increase cross-country comparability. However, methodological changes in the underlying surveys may result in non-comparable data that the harmonization process cannot fully solve. It is important that the user know what data is and is not comparable. For more information, visit the comparability dashboard.

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