Where Are Women More Likely to Go to College?
Key Takeaways
- Women have higher college enrollment rates than men in 130 countries worldwide.
- The divide is particularly wide in several major economies, including Sweden (+40%), Brazil (+36%), the U.S. (+32%), and Australia (+31%).
- Japan and South Korea buck the trend among advanced economies, with higher enrollment rates among men.
Over the last quarter-century, the balance in higher education has shifted increasingly toward women. Globally, women and men reached near-parity in tertiary enrollment around 2000, but female enrollment has since pulled ahead.
This graphic maps differences in tertiary enrollment between women and men worldwide, based on World Bank and UNESCO Institute for Statistics data. Figures represent the most recent year available for each country, ranging from 2022 to 2025.
Women Lead College Enrollment Across Most of the World
Globally, the female tertiary enrollment rate is 12% higher than the male rate. The difference ranges from women leading by more than 80% in some countries to men leading by more than 40% in others.
In the table below, positive figures indicate higher enrollment rates among women, while negative figures indicate higher rates among men.
| Country | Women vs. Men Enrollment Gap |
|---|---|
 Gambia |
83% |
 Sint Maarten |
78% |
 St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
68% |
 Qatar |
64% |
 Maldives |
64% |
 Tuvalu |
60% |
 Guyana |
57% |
 Aruba |
57% |
 Samoa |
57% |
 Kiribati |
56% |
 St. Lucia |
53% |
 Turks and Caicos Islands |
52% |
 Iceland |
52% |
 Seychelles |
51% |
 Tonga |
51% |
 Barbados |
49% |
 Cuba |
49% |
 Dominican Republic |
49% |
 Bahrain |
47% |
 Belize |
45% |
 Oman |
45% |
 Argentina |
45% |
 Tunisia |
45% |
 Monaco |
43% |
 South Africa |
42% |
 Uruguay |
42% |
 Namibia |
42% |
 Mongolia |
41% |
 Sweden |
40% |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
40% |
 Sri Lanka |
40% |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
39% |
 Botswana |
39% |
 New Zealand |
38% |
 Malta |
38% |
 West Bank and Gaza |
38% |
 British Virgin Islands |
37% |
 Poland |
37% |
 Panama |
37% |
 Puerto Rico |
37% |
 Brazil |
36% |
 Algeria |
35% |
 Brunei Darussalam |
35% |
 Estonia |
34% |
 Norway |
34% |
 Slovenia |
34% |
 Montenegro |
34% |
 Bermuda |
34% |
 Honduras |
33% |
 Palau |
33% |
 Jordan |
33% |
 Croatia |
33% |
 Latvia |
32% |
 Cyprus |
32% |
 U.S. |
32% |
 Slovakia |
31% |
 Lithuania |
31% |
 Australia |
31% |
 Malaysia |
31% |
 Serbia |
30% |
 Israel |
30% |
 North Macedonia |
30% |
 Bulgaria |
29% |
 Denmark |
29% |
 Nicaragua |
29% |
 Italy |
29% |
 Kyrgyzstan |
28% |
 Armenia |
28% |
 Suriname |
27% |
 Marshall Islands |
27% |
 United Kingdom |
27% |
 Belgium |
27% |
 Canada |
27% |
 Thailand |
26% |
 El Salvador |
26% |
 Czechia |
26% |
 France |
25% |
 Finland |
25% |
 Albania |
24% |
 Moldova |
24% |
 Romania |
24% |
 Austria |
23% |
 Spain |
23% |
 Fiji |
22% |
 Azerbaijan |
22% |
 Philippines |
22% |
 UAE |
22% |
 Nepal |
22% |
 Zimbabwe |
21% |
 Hungary |
21% |
 Ecuador |
21% |
 Guatemala |
21% |
 Indonesia |
20% |
 Morocco |
19% |
 Ireland |
19% |
 Portugal |
18% |
 Kazakhstan |
17% |
 Georgia |
16% |
 Mexico |
16% |
 Vietnam |
16% |
 Luxembourg |
16% |
 Netherlands |
16% |
 Chile |
15% |
 Colombia |
15% |
 Uzbekistan |
14% |
 Belarus |
14% |
 China |
14% |
 Switzerland |
12% |
 World |
12% |
 Bhutan |
11% |
 Cambodia |
11% |
 Senegal |
11% |
 Macao |
11% |
 Germany |
10% |
 Hong Kong SAR |
9% |
 Andorra |
9% |
 Singapore |
9% |
 India |
7% |
 Turkmenistan |
7% |
 Russia |
7% |
 Turkiye |
7% |
 Greece |
7% |
 Timor-Leste |
4% |
 Egypt |
3% |
 Pakistan |
3% |
 Ghana |
2% |
 Madagascar |
2% |
 San Marino |
1% |
 Saudi Arabia |
1% |
 Iran |
1% |
 Mauritius |
0% |
 Angola |
-1% |
 Cote d’Ivoire |
-2% |
 Japan |
-3% |
 Cameroon |
-4% |
 Tajikistan |
-5% |
 Burundi |
-10% |
 South Korea |
-11% |
 Ukraine |
-15% |
 Tanzania |
-18% |
 Rwanda |
-20% |
 Kenya |
-21% |
 Bangladesh |
-23% |
 Laos |
-25% |
 Burkina Faso |
-26% |
 Malawi |
-30% |
 Republic of Congo |
-33% |
 Benin |
-41% |
 World Average |
12% |
Among major advanced economies, the U.S. has one of the widest differences favoring women. Its female enrollment rate is 32% higher than the male rate, compared with 27% in Canada, 25% in France, and 19% in Ireland, which ranks as the world’s most educated country.
Why Japan and South Korea Buck the Trend
East Asia contains one of the map’s sharpest contrasts.
Women have higher tertiary enrollment rates in China (+14%), Hong Kong (+9%), and Singapore (+9%). Yet the pattern reverses in Japan (-3%) and becomes more pronounced in South Korea (-11%).
One factor that can affect South Korea’s figures is mandatory military service for most able-bodied men, which can interrupt university studies and extend the period over which men remain enrolled.
These figures compare gross enrollment ratios rather than simply counting male and female students. Because gross enrollment can include students outside the typical university-age range, differences in when students enroll and how long they remain in school can also affect the results.
The Divide Continues Beyond Enrollment
The same pattern appears in educational attainment. Across OECD countries, 55% of women aged 25–34 had completed tertiary education in 2024, compared with 42% of men.
Women are also more likely to finish their degrees. OECD data show a persistent completion gap favoring women across bachelor’s programs.
Yet women’s advantage in higher education does not translate into higher earnings, at least yet. Among full-time, full-year workers aged 25–34 across OECD countries, women earn about 17% to 18% less than men with the same level of educational attainment.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about global education trends, check out this graphic on the countries with the strongest reading performance.
