Towards Better Education and Less Inequality? Trends in Geographical, Generational and Gender Inequality in Education

In our paper we provide an overview of past, current and possible future trends in disparities in education following the traditional patterns of inequlity along gender, generation and geography. Magnitude and recent trends in inequality vary across regions and countries. Educational differences by generation indicate the speed of change in human capital formation over time and we identify different patterns of educational transitions that are closely connected to societal, economic and institutional contexts. We focus on pathways from female disadvantage to gender equality and new forms of inequality. The closing of gender gaps is typical mostly of developing countries, where recent gains in education are often more pronounced for women compared to men, but are not always sufficient to remove the limitation in access to education; whereas the issue of male disadvantage especially in higher (i.e. post-secondary) education emerges in developed countries of the North, as well as countries in Latin America, East and South-East Asia. It must be emphasised that gender inequalities are an important aspect of “over-education”. For the future of potentially “over-educated” societies, evidence on gender differentials is important for education policies.