The gender gap in education doesn't always disadvantage women. In countries like Estonia, Iceland, or Sweden, women outperform men in key indicators such as tertiary education and lifelong learning. But that, too, is a gender gap.
That's the starting point for researchers at the [Spain's] Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), who have developed a mathematical model to support European education authorities in improving performance and reducing gender disparities, regardless of which group is underperforming.
"In many European countries, women outperform men at every educational level. If we're serious about equality, we must also address these differences," explains Inmaculada Sirvent, professor of Statistics and Operations Research at UMH and co-author of the study.
Published in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, the study analyzes four key indicators used by the European Commission to track access to knowledge: tertiary attainment, adult participation in learning, early leavers from education and training, and the share of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEETs).
One of the study's most striking findings is that, on average, women outperform men in three of the four indicators. The most significant gap concerns tertiary attainment: 38.5% of women in Europe have completed tertiary education, compared to 32% of men. "This imbalance, even if favorable to women, is still a gender gap—and one the education system can and should help close," says Sirvent.
Using data from 93 European regions, the model provides tailored improvement targets for each region based on two simultaneous goals: getting closer to best practices and reducing gender disparities for each indicator.
"This bi-objective approach is the key innovation in our work," says Sirvent. The model allows decision-makers to prioritize different strategies: for instance, setting closer targets as the result of benchmarking against the most similar peers (even if gender gaps persist), or choosing more ambitious, gender-balanced targets that may require greater effort.
The methodology is based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a widely used tool for assessing the relative efficiency of comparable units, such as hospitals, schools, or regions, based on their inputs and outputs. In this case, DEA is adapted to suggest customized educational targets that both improve performance and close gender gaps.
"One of the most striking examples is Estonia, where 54% of women have completed tertiary education, compared to just 31% of men," notes José L. Ruiz, UMH professor of Statistics and Operations Research and co-author of the study.
"Our model shows that Estonia could reduce this gap without significantly burdening its education system." Similar patterns are seen in Iceland and several regions of Poland, Finland, and Spain. In contrast, some areas of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria still show gender gaps favoring men.
The study is also notable for being the first to apply DEA at a subnational level in the European education context and for incorporating gender equality as a key optimization objective in policy planning.
Sirvent and Ruiz, both affiliated with UMH's Institute for Operations Research, collaborated with Dovilė Stumbrienė of Vilnius University's Faculty of Philosophy, who led the research.
Among the study's limitations, the authors cite the lack of more granular territorial data and the absence of relevant social variables such as socioeconomic background, cultural context, or ethnic diversity.
They also note that the indicators used measure educational outcomes but do not necessarily access opportunities or conditions within the education system.
More information: Dovilė Stumbrienė et al, Towards gender equality in education: Different strategies to improve subnational performance of European countries using data envelopment analysis, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2024.102138
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(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday June 07, @07:28PM (6 children)
It's a thing some places [satwcomic.com].
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 07, @08:30PM (5 children)
As a guy, the only "rights" I feel are truly mine is my right to refuse to say "I Do", either at the altar, at the voting booth, and stop providing free service to others based solely on gender ( quit paying for free dinners, event admissions, flowers, jewelry, etc. )
Let them fix their own stuff.
Stop blaming the women for this. With all this chivalry crap, we males brought this on ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 07, @09:20PM (1 child)
Why do people post crap like this? Feel all knowing and powerful? We males were doing what we were taught, and generally trying to be nice, doing our best. No way we could envision the result would be ungracious slaps in the face- at best, and then accused of patronizing women.
Otherwise I agree with you, and the point here is to learn from experience, then apply that empirical knowledge.
I think we're all different, all have sometimes widely varying abilities, talents, and skills. But nobody of any kind should be treated badly, as lesser beings.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Sunday June 08, @08:18AM
I have gone through my life treating everyone with respect and remembering to be polite and well-mannered to men and women alike. Maybe I have sometimes got it wrong but never intentionally so, and there has never been an adverse response to my actions.
I have never been slapped in the face or accused of patronizing women.
I have worked in an environment which was very male dominated when I started but far more evenly balanced by the time I left. People were recognised and rewarded for their abilities and not for their gender. None of the women that I have had under my command asked for special privileges or rights, and none were given. Where an individual might be having a problem then I was always more than prepared to help them solve it if that is what they wanted, but that wasn't a matter of what gender they were but rather that I had some responsibility for them as an officer or just as a human being.
In essence the differences between us are not as a result of their gender, but in our own perceptions. I agree with you that we should all learn from our mistakes and take it as something that we should address in ourselves and not look to change in others.
However, as TFA explains, the balance regarding gender and education in Europe is very different from many other regions of the world. Perhaps that has made a difference.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 07, @11:07PM (2 children)
lol, hardly.
You can be accused without proof, and you're guilty without evidence. Congrats, though.
Not saying I Do might help, until lots of other things come into play (such as common-law marriage). Not even getting to that point, it's man-rapes-woman if you go out for drinks and come home with someone (or go back to their place!) and have sex.
The man is *always* responsible for ensuring the woman does the right thing. The woman decides *based on the result* whether she agreed when the act took place. If she's drunk, all you need to know is that you-lose.
Biking down the street, I've had bitch call out "Hey!" behind me, and I ignored it. Until a _different_ bitch, much closer, started yelling "Hey!" at me. I stopped and asked wtf? The first bitch was someone dressed in a whore coat and makeup that wanted to ask me if I'd sell her pot. Wtf. I left. If you interact, then you, as a man, are at fault and responsible. That's your right: the right to be held responsible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 08, @12:32AM (1 child)
Personally, I feel like having a woman in my house is like being in court in front of the judge. I do my damnedest to avoid that scene.
It's the old fox and grapes thing, and there are many other things out there besides grapes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 08, @02:18PM
Sad.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mrpg on Saturday June 07, @08:56PM (1 child)
I thought people had sex and words had gender, at least in Spanish: el carro (car, masculine), la casa (house, feminine). Male, female, masculine, feminine.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 07, @11:02PM
lol, in English, sex is biological and gender is "choice". Even the trans get it wrong. (That's half the problem everyone has with them - when they don't know what they're talking about, why the hell should anyone else take their word for it?)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 07, @10:31PM
> Among the study's limitations, the authors cite the lack of more granular territorial data and the absence of relevant social variables such as socioeconomic background, cultural context, or ethnic diversity.
> They also note that the indicators used measure educational outcomes but do not necessarily access opportunities or conditions within the education system.
The whole study is with respect to education. What if that's not the only consideration in peoples' lives? What if they decide to forgo education to seek additional profits, earlier in life, to provide for a family or start a business? Some others may opt for education first, to achieve the same, but later in their life.
Suppose that people are not ===. Perhaps people differ. Why must everything be the same, always, without regard to life choices?
Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome.
Even opportunity will shift, depending on the choices you opt for throughout life. Restarting is maybe free, but if you restart and change careers in mid-life, you shouldn't have the expectation of being on equal-opportunity-footing for a directory position at whatever point might be convenient for you, versus someone who has spent their whole first half life in that field. Equality of opportunity starts basically at birth, and lifestyle developments (often imposed by others) modify experiences, and choices while growing up, modify it all the long way.
I stayed home in the evenings and learned programming, mathematics, and nerdy stuff. Others went out, partied, drank, and practiced social interaction. I didn't. I don't interact well socially, but I'm much better than the majority when it comes to engineering. Why then, must they have the same engineering opportunity as me? They had their life, I had mine, and my skills and growth are being disregarded because others who didn't put in the effort want the benefits anyway. So I paid the lifetime investment but they get the same benefits regardless. So why should anyone ever do anything?