1. Closing the education gender gap in Latin America and the Caribbean: Success factors and challenges Claudia Piras Inter-American Development Bank Gender and Diversity Unit October 3, 2007

2. The Schooling Gap Has Reversed in LAC Contrary to the situation of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, gender-parity in education, and thus the corresponding MDG, have been achieved in LAC. Furthermore, in most of the countries of the region there is a reverse gender gap in education. Women are nowadays achieving higher average years of schooling than their male counterparts (with some important exceptions).

3. The Schooling Gap Has Reversed in LAC These surprising outcomes seem to contradict the standard assumption that parents favor investing in boys’ education. Without doubt the advances made in the education of women configure one of the biggest success stories of the region. However, little is know about this important and unprecedented accomplishment in the developing world. Most of the studies that have looked at a variety of educational outcomes in LAC have not gone beyond addressing the inexistence of a gender gap.

4. Our Research Questions The paper’s aim is to provide answers to the following questions: –When did the gender gap in schooling closed in LAC? –Was it a uniform process across the region or some countries closed the gender gap earlier than others? –Is the reversal of the gender gap that we observe in LAC uniformly distributed by education levels or is it mostly explained by changes among the more educated? –Are the countries that did not close the gender gap in schooling yet on their way to close it? Are there current gender differences in attendance and attainment among 6-18 years old by income quintile? And by ethnic characteristics?

5. The Data 17 National Household Surveys between 2001-2004. Processed and harmonized by the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank. Pooling the data sets and using the expansion factors. The data represents approximately 90% of the Latin American population

6. Gender Differences in Adult School Attainment

7. Average years of schooling Latin American and the Caribbean Countries Average years of schooling by birth cohort and gender (3 year moving average) 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 194019421944194619481950195219541956195819601962196419661968197019721974197619781980 Birth cohort FemaleMale

8. Gender Gap in Average Years of Schooling Females born between 1940 and 1942 attained, on average, 5 years of schooling while their male counterparts attained 5.8. For those born between 1979 and 1981 (that is, those who were between 21 and 24 years old at the time of the surveys), the average schooling attainment for females was 9.6 years while for males was 9.3. During this period of four decades, females’ schooling attainment increased by approximately 4.6 years while males’ attainment increased by 3.5.

9. Latin American and the Caribbean Countries Gender Gap in the average years of schooling by birth cohort (3 year moving average) -1.2 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 194019421944194619481950195219541956195819601962196419661968197019721974197619781980 Birth cohort Gap in average years of schooling (Female-Male)

10. The Evolution of the Gender Schooling Gap It moved from approximately one year in favor of males for the birth cohort 1940-1942 to almost one-quarter of a schooling year in favor of females for the birth cohort 1979-1981. On average for the four decades of birth cohorts that our data sets are covering, the gender gap has been reducing at a rate of approximately 0.27 years of schooling per decade. The figure also suggests that the gender parity was achieved for those born around 1967. …there are interesting cross-country differences

11. Approximate Birth Cohorts for Which Gender Parity in Schooling was Achieved Bolivia Guatemala México Perú 19501955196019651970197519801985199019952000 Brasil (’50) Jamaica (’50) Uruguay (’50) Argentina (‘51) Panamá (’52) Colombia (’53) Venezuela (’55) Costa Rica (’57) Chile (’65) Honduras (’66) Nicaragua (’67) El Salvador (’72) Paraguay (’72)

12. Latin American and the Caribbean Countries Gender Gap in the average years of education, birth cohorts 1940-1980 Panamá Perú JamaicaHonduras Costa Rica Paraguay Mexico Chile Brazil Uruguay NicaraguaArgentina Bolivia Colombia Guatemala Venezuela El Salvador -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 -2.5-2.0-1.5-0.50.00.51.0 Gap in average years of education Birth cohort 1940 Gap in average years of education Birth cohort 1980

13. Decomposition of the Evolution of the Schooling Gap Four components: –Those who achieved no education and primary incomplete (L 1 ), –Those with primary complete and secondary incomplete (L 2 ), –Those with secondary complete and college incomplete (L 3 ), and –Those that completed college or more (L 4 ). To what extent each of these components explain the changes in the gender schooling gap (E[S F ]-E[S M ]?

16. Decomposition of the 1940-1980 Changes Most of the changes in the gender gap are explained by those that happened among the most educated (the two highest educational groups). For the groups with primary complete and secondary incomplete the changes were such that, in this segment, the boys achieve more schooling than the girls. …cross-country heterogeneity

18. Different Patterns for the Decomposition of the Changes For most of the countries the components of the third and fourth level are the two most important elements of the decomposition. For Bolivia and Peru the component of the second level (primary complete and secondary incomplete) is noticeable and positive. For Bolivia, Honduras, México and El Salvador the component of the first level (no education and primary incomplete) contributes to an important extent to the explanation of the changes in the gap favoring females.

19. Summary (Attainment) We found that the gender schooling gap has changed at a fast pace during the last four decades. For the oldest cohort in our data the gender gap in schooling attainment was almost 0.8 years favoring males. For the youngest cohort the gap changed to a state in favor of females by almost one-fourth of a schooling year. During this period the gender gap in attainment changed at a pace of 0.27 years of schooling per decade, favoring females. Most of the changes are explained by changes in the upper end of the distribution of schooling.

20. Most of the changes are also explained by the completion of schooling levels (as opposed to more years of schooling within each level). There are four countries that did not close the gender gap in schooling yet. Nevertheless, three of them are on their way to achieve it: –Bolivia (cohort of 2011) –Guatemala –Mexico (cohort of 1999) –Peru (cohort of 1984) Interestingly, these are countries with important ethnic diversity. Summary (Attainment)

21. Gender Differences in School Attendance and Attainment of 6-18 years old By income quintile By ethnic characteristics

22. Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru School Attendance by Gender and Per Capita Household Income Quintile 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 6789101112131415161718 Age Share Attending School Male, lowest quintile Female, lowest quintile Male, middle quintile Female, middle quintile Male, highest quintile Female, highest quintile

23. Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru Mean School Attainment by Gender and Per Capita Household Income Quintile 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 6789101112131415161718 Age Mean Years of Completed Schooling Male, lowest quintile Female, lowest quintile Male, middle quintile Female, middle quintile Male, highest quintile Female, highest quintile

24. Gender Differences in Attendance and Attainment (by income quintile) The estimates for attendance rates for children ages 8-11 in the region are above 95% leaving little room for variation across gender or income group. However there is a slight difference in attendance by income quintiles at young ages. At age 7 there is a 5 percentage point gap in attendance across the lowest and highest income quintiles. At older ages there is a slight tendency for boys from the lowest income quintile to have higher attendance rates than girls from the same income group. The opposite happens at the highest income quintile. There are some gender differences in attainment at the lowest income quintile (approximately 0.5 years of schooling in favor of boys).

27. Gender Differences in Attendance (By Ethnicity) Attendance rates for Peru are above 90% from age 6 to 13 for all groups. However starting at age 16 indigenous males and females attend school at much lower rates than their non-indigenous peers. The situation is less optimistic in Bolivia and Guatemala, where the indigenous display clear lags in school attendance both at early ages as well as in later teen years. Although boys and girls have similar profiles from ages 7-13, attendance rates for indigenous girls start to depart at age 9.

28. Gender Differences in Attainment (By Ethnicity) Profiles of school attainment in Bolivia and Guatemala are similar to the patterns observed in Peru. While non-indigenous females have similar years of schooling attainment to their male peers, indigenous teenager girls lag behind their male indigenous peers by approximately 2 full years of schooling. The gender differences are largest after ages 15-17. Although there are some common features in the patterns of schooling attainment by gender and ethnicity among the three countries there is a striking difference in the levels of attainment.

29. Success factors that contributed to closing the gender gap Policy of Free and Universal Education Co-ed schools Girls scholarships Education legislation on gender equality Education Policy Adult literacy campaigns Child care and pre-school programs Women in the teaching profession Teenage pregnancy Anti-poverty programs Labor market opportunities for women Government participation in international campaigns and treaties on gender equality Social/Economic Policy

30. Remaining challenges The statistics presented in our paper portray a success story with respect to the educational attainment of girls in most of LAC. However, in some countries rural girls, particularly from indigenous groups, have higher probability of drop-out and not reaching secondary education than rural boys. Gender parity is not the same as gender equality. At the same time as schools empower young people with knowledge and skills, they also reflect and reinforce societal norms, including norms about gender roles. Gender discrimination and gender stereotyping are still present in textbooks and educational materials, in classroom dynamics, in teacher attitudes and expectations, and in vocational orientation.

31. Conclusions There are parallel truths about gender and education in LAC: 1.The gender divide in education in LAC for the most part requires interventions to attract boys and young men. Regional leaders are starting to pay attention to the problem. 2.There are pockets where girls are still being denied their right to an education, particularly within indigenous populations and in rural areas. 3.The reproduction of gender inequality is related to the social construction of expectations, where the school plays a key function. The role of the education system as a catalyst of change in gender relations requires further attention. Despite progress, it continues to project gender stereotypes that limit the capacities and future opportunities of girls and boys.

32. Thanks