Women take the lead in education in Europe

Source: Schengen Visa Info

Approximately 2.6 million tertiary students in the European Union were registered in 2021, studying in culture-related fields, constituting 14 percent of all tertiary students in the bloc.

In the same year, women outnumbered men in tertiary education in these fields (64 percent women, 36 percent men more specifically).

According to the recent report of the European Office for Statistics, Eurostat, the largest share of tertiary students was registered in culture-related fields of education in the following EU countries:

Italy – 20 percent
Sweden- 17 percent
Estonia- 16 percent
The same source notes that the most significant number of students in culture-related fields pursued languages and humanities (50 percent), followed by arts (27 percent), journalism and information (ten percent), as well as town planning and architecture (nine percent).

Eurostat’s recent report noted that in 2021 there was noted a significant increase in the number of women engaged in cultural fields, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“The share of women was markedly higher among those studying journalism and information studies (68 percent), humanities and languages (67 percent), and arts (61 percent). Meanwhile, the gap was less pronounced for those studying architecture and town planning, where 55 percent of students were female,” the statement reads.

A previous report by Eurostat noted that the number of women in the EU countries with tertiary education surged by one percentage point last year. The same said that the total share of people who attained tertiary education was 42 percent.

Besides, the report Eurostat also noted that despite the surge in the number of persons with tertiary education, the EU’s target for this year is yet to be reached by three percentage points after European states aim for a total of 45 percent of the population in 25 to 34 age group to have tertiary education.

“The gender disparity in tertiary education is clear: among individuals aged 25-34, a higher percentage of women have tertiary education compared with men (48 percent of women and 37 percent of men, respectively),” Eurostat explains in a press release.

Still, some European states managed to achieve the target of 45 percent of the population with university degrees. Eurostat said that countries with the highest scores regarding population with higher education degrees were Ireland (62.3 percent of the population aged 25-34 having a university degree), Luxembourg, and Lithuania.

However, other countries, such as Romania, Hungary, and Italy, haven’t met the 2030 EU-level target.