Survey says: Women have overtaken men at every level of education in developed world.

BBC On-Line ^ | Tuesday, 16 September, 2003 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Last Updated: Tuesday, 16 September, 2003, 08:58 GMT 09:58 UK

Girls more confident of success

Women are now much more
likely to go to university than men,

Women have overtaken men at every level of education in developed countries around the world.

And girls are now more confident of getting better-paid, professional jobs than their flagging male counterparts.

International education figures, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, show a consistent picture, across cultures and continents, of women achieving better results than men.

The OECD survey is a detailed comparison of education achievement and spending in 43 developed countries.

The success of girls is a complete reversal of what would have been expected a generation ago, said Andreas Schleicher, head of analysis at the OECD's education directorate.

And he says that the 1990s have seen a remarkable change in women's expectations and achievements.

The survey found that in almost every developed country, 15-year-old girls are more confident than boys about getting high-income jobs.

For example, in the United Kingdom, 63% of girls expect to have "white collar, high-skilled" jobs by the time they are 30, compared to only 51% of boys.

This picture of girls with higher expectations than boys is repeated in the United States, Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Australia.

University challenge

And girls have good reason to be more confident than boys, because academically, around the globe, they are more successful - which is likely to lead to higher-income jobs.

In literacy skills, 15-year-old girls are ahead of boys in every one of the 43 countries in the OECD survey. In the UK, the gap in literacy scores between girls and boys at this age is 26%.

And this school-age gender gap leads to an increasingly stark difference between the success of male and female students in getting into university.

In New Zealand, 89% of women enter university, compared to 62% of men. In Iceland, 80% of women go into higher education, compared to 42% of men.

In the United Kingdom, the figures for 2001 show that 49% of women entered university, compared to 41% of men.

And Andreas Schleicher says that much of the rapid growth in higher education places and the larger number of students staying in education can be directly attributed to this growing academic success of women.

But why should boys be falling behind, in so many different countries?

Andreas Schleicher says there are "troubling signs" that boys are more susceptible to being put off education by disruptions in their home environment.

Boys seem less able to overcome obstacles to education, he says, whether it is peer group pressure or a lack of family support.

[CyberCowboy777]

Now you are just baiting

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I understand exactly why you felt the need to clarify your remarks. ; ) (Now I suppose I'll have to clarify my agreement with you, otherwise it will be Daughter said she thinks girls should be neglected in favor of boys. LOL)

[CyberCowboy777]

I think white males are discovering that competition isn't what they thought it was...they might lose.

The logical conclusion of this statement is that no competition exists among men, only some fake competition (to entice women?).

That most men simply lay down positions to other men - in some sort of collective. That only when women who are outside this collective enter the scene suddenly real (not fake) competition occurs.

The more I read of you the more I wonder what position in life you really have.

[CyberCowboy777]

Did you read what happened in Jim's hometown? A Commissioner from the Human Right Commission in Fresno called Free Republic a violent Hate Group.

We may have to disclaimer everything we say!

[NCLaw441]

But we guys can still beat up most women..... (not that I want to....)

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

how come girls still dont understand football?

A joke, I know, but it's a good question. I'm not a feminist, so don't read my post that way, please - but it's probably because they don't play football.

I was granted an exemption to this rule, having grown up in Wisconsin in the 1960s. : )

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

LOL - it's getting to that point, I think!

[CyberCowboy777]

Are you going to be at the picnic on Saturday? I think Chad is going to be there.


I have to work - so you guys had better take pics and post evrything that happens.

[CyberCowboy777]

And you like Footbal????

If I was not already married....

[dennisw]

Survey says: Women have overtaken men at every level of education in developed world.

Translation: Woman are more amenable to being cooped up in sterile offices under florescent lights, breathing dead filtered air that may or may not have mold and other contamination. I compare them to battery hens content to lay eggs.

[LonghornFreeper]

The problem with so many of these surveys is that they treat all college degrees as if they were the same. They aren't. So there are more women in college than men. Who cares? Huge numbers of women major in total BS liberal arts subjects, like sociology, anthropology, psychology, social work (yes, that is not just a major, but an actual school unto itself, on the same level as engineering or business) and the granddaddy of all BS, women's studies. Walmart has plenty of openings, so the economy will support these women, but they won't earn as much as people with real degrees, and NOW will continue to claim oppression. Here at the University of Texas, and at several other major universities whose demographic stats I have seen, men completely dominate enrollment in degrees like natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering, and have a smaller majority in law, pre-med, and business. The only halfway decent degrees women have more enrollment in are education and nursing. As long as these trends continue, men will continue to out-earn (on average) women in the workplace.

[Sacajaweau]

A guy throws a ball. Another guy catches it. A whole bunch of guys jump him. One guy breaks a leg. Another loses a couple of teeth. One has a concussion. What's to understand?

Men invent games in order to legally beat on each other and have a big party. Girls with pom poms beat their boom booms, and strut their stuff. Legal burlesque?? Life was man vs beast. Now, it's man vs ball. The boys have a great time in their "civil" world!! They amuse me!!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I won't be going to the picnic either, no...so I guess we'll both have to rely on Chad's version of events.

If we give him a job to do (taking pictures), he's far less likely to get himself in trouble making obscene gestures with food products and stuff. ; )

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

LOL ; ) (I LOVE football. I even covered the NFL Draft one year for an online news source!)

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

(In NYC, I should say...otherwise you might think I meant from in front of my television.)

[Johnbalaya]

true dat!

Plus, take into account a man's natural aggressiveness put into pursuits other than the physical like scientific research, music, cooking, business, art, engineering, politics, etc., men will still be the movers and shakers of the world for good or ill. Heck, even gay guys are showing themselves to be better than women at fashion design and decorating.

[CyberCowboy777]

Or at least he will get pictures of himself making obscene gestures with food products.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Or at least he will get pictures of himself making obscene gestures with food products.

Man, there's just always a hitch!

[Lorianne]

Schools don't drug students, parents do.

Just say NO to drugging your kid.

[CyberCowboy777]

#77 was for you as well....

I don't want to be called a coward for not pinging you when I talk about you! ;~0