Trends in continuing education by school type

• The rate of women entering high school is increasing, reaching 97.0% in 1998. In addition, the percentage of women entering universities (university departments) in 1998 was 27.5%, which was higher than that of women entering junior colleges (21.9%). This gap is in the process of widening.

The percentage of Japanese women attending higher education institutions is low

• A look at the rate of attendance at university departments and higher level educational institutions (defined as "tertiary education" by UNESCO) by country and sex reveals that women have higher rates of matriculation than men in some developed countries while women have lower rates in Germany, Republic of Korea and Japan (Figure 25). While the levels are high for neither men nor women in Japan, the ratio of females is particularly low.

Figure 25: Tertiary education attendance rates by country and sex

Notes:

1. The term "tertiary education" is based on the levels 5-7 of the International Standard Classification of Education. In Japan it applies to university departments and higher level educational institutions.
2. Total attendance rate is obtained by dividing the total number of matriculants by the population of the official age group corresponding to the specific educational stage (with consideration given to differences in education periods among countries).

Source:

Statistical Yearbook 1997, UNESCO, 1998

Ratio of female teaching staff in higher education is low in Japan

• The ratio of female teaching staff to total teaching staff in Japan is 44.4% for primary and secondary education (public). This figure greatly exceeds this ratio for higher education, which is 15.3% (Figure 26).
• A comparison with other countries reveals that Japan's ratio of female teaching staff to total teaching staff is lower than every country in the case of primary, secondary and higher education. In particular, the ratio in the area of higher education is markedly lower than the other countries.

Figure 26: Ratio of female-teaching staff to total teaching staff by country

Notes:

1. Elementary and junior high schools" corresponds to elementary, junior high and senior high schools in Japan.
2. There is no data available on German and Russian senior high schools.

Source:

International Comparison of Education Indicators, Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture,1998