SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

FIGURE 3.3:
Access to tertiary education is expanding faster in wealthier countries
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2015.
Despite gender parity
in tertiary education
in many Asia-Pacific
countries, women are
underrepresented in
science and engineering
92
FIGURE 3.4:
Women still tend to study in traditional fields
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2015.
inequalities in the distribution of wealth and
wider opportunities for human development.
Globally, gender parity has been achieved
in tertiary education, and remarkably, female
enrolment is higher than male enrolment in some
regions, including East Asia and South-east
Asia. In South Asia, male enrolment is much
higher, but with a trend towards parity. Women
still tend to be underrepresented in science and
engineering, however, and ‘overrepresented’
in more ‘traditionally feminine’ areas such as
education and health (Figure 3.4). 27 Since scientists
and engineers are likely to be paid more
than teachers and nurses, this will continue
to aggravate wage disparities. Factors behind
women’s underrepresentation in scientific fields
including poor career counselling, lack of role
models, negative attitudes from families and
cultural norms. 28
Despite rapid expansion, tertiary education
systems in Asia-Pacific are not equipped to meet
demand, as reflected in an enrolment rate for
upper secondary education that is twice that
of tertiary institutions. Without significant,