First graph: takes all 25-34 year olds of that country with a 4-year college degree or higher, and looks at the female:male split.
Second graph: per-gender educational attainment percentages for 25-34.
Notes
- Initial thought was, maybe all these countries just have a lot of females aged 25-34? But the World Bank (2023) says all these countries have more males in the 25-34 range, except Mexico which had a very slight female edge. This also prompted me to make the second graph.
- I intially tried to put all OECD countries here but there were 38, so picked the 14 largest countries by population, barring those without recent data.
by affordablebiscuit
6 Comments
Source: OECD Data Explorer. “Adults’ gender distribution, by educational attainment level and age group” for the first graph. “Adults’ educational attainment distribution, by age group and gender” for the second. Filter for 25-34 yrs.
Tools: Python, pandas, matplotlib, seaborn, Claude Code for ideation and debugging.
If it was the other way around (and it was long ago) there would be millions, if not billions, poured into increasing the number of women through research, scholarships, etc. But because it is less men, no one cares.
It will be interesting to see how this changes with time. Since 2021, our university (in the US) has averaged a 0.8 point *increase* towards women graduates year over year. This year, 61.3% that graduated were women.
It’s interesting that the US has a higher percentage of both men and women with degrees than countries like Germany when the individual cost is so much higher to go to college in the US
Men don’t get university degrees at the same rate as women because blue collar jobs require apprenticeships, training and certifications, not 4 year degrees.
It’s a shame that no one cares about the trend that boys and young men are falling behind in education. Putting time and resources doesn’t have to be a zero sum game that detracts from girls and women. It should start with hiring more men in education. The field is dominated by women and it isn’t surprising that boys feel that as they go through the system.