Sample Detail

The bar chart compares the proportions of the male and female population possessing higher education qualifications across five nations in 2001. Overall, the proportion of men holding higher educational qualifications exceeded that of women in most countries, with the opposite pattern observed in the USA and Germany. Additionally, Germany recorded the highest percentage of females with higher education qualifications, while Switzerland had the highest figure for males. Turning first to Switzerland, Britain, and Japan, all three countries recorded higher proportions of males holding advanced educational qualifications than females. The highest percentage of the male population with higher education qualifications was seen in Switzerland, at 45%, exceeding the corresponding figure for females by 10 percentage points. This was followed by Britain, where the proportion of males with higher education qualifications stood at 35%, five percentage points higher than that of females. Japan recorded the lowest proportions for both genders, with 30% of males and 25% of females holding higher education qualifications, respectively. By contrast, Germany and the United States exhibited lower percentages of males holding advanced educational qualifications than females. Specifically, in Germany, nearly half of the female population held tertiary-level qualifications, compared with just over one-third of males. A similar pattern was observed in the United States, where the proportion of females with higher education qualifications stood at two-fifths, while the corresponding figure for males was 35%.