Gender Parity Index

Percentage of countries that have achieved gender parity in the gross enrolment ratio, by education level, 2000 and 2017

The Gender Parity Index (GPI) is a socioeconomic index usually designed to measure the relative access to education of males and females. This index is released by UNESCO. In its simplest form, it is calculated as the quotient of the number of females by the number of males enrolled in a given stage of education (primary, secondary, etc.). A GPI equal to one signifies equality between males and females. A GPI less than one is an indication that gender parity favors males while a GPI greater than one indicates gender parity that favors females.^[1] The closer a GPI is to one, the closer a country is to achieving equality of access between males and females.^[2] It is used by international organizations, particularly in measuring the progress of developing countries. The Institute for Statistics of UNESCO also uses a more general definition of GPI: for any development indicator one can define the GPI relative to this indicator by dividing its value for females by its value for males.^[3] For example, some UNESCO documents consider gender parity in literacy.^[4]

UNESCO describes attempts to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education and emphasizes the plight of girls in unequal access in third world countries.^[5] However, the GPI ignores the gender disparity that benefits first-world women in tertiary education. In Iceland, for example, 65% of students enrolling in tertiary education are female.

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2016 allows users to look at and compare country GPI data, calculate their own country's gender parity, and explore global patterns.^[6]

See also[]

References[]

This article related to gender studies is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t