Educational structure of the Lithuanian population by gender

Straipsnyje, remiantis 2011 m. ir ankstesnių gyventojų surašymų duomenimis, analizuojama Lietuvos gyventojų išsilavinimo struktūra – aptariamas bendras vyrų ir moterų išsilavinimo lygis ir jo kaita nuo 1959 m., analizuojamas vyrų ir moterų išsilavinimas pagal amžių, vyrų ir moterų užsienio kalbų mokėjimas pagal amžių. Straipsnyje konstatuojama, kad nors pastarąjį dešimtmetį bendras Lietuvos gyventojų išsilavinimo lygis kilo – didėjo dalis asmenų, turinčių aukštąjį ir vidurinį išsilavinimą, mažėjo turinčių pradinį išsilavinimą dalis, – bendras išsilavinimo lygio augimas pagal lytį pasiskirstė netolygiai. Teigiami pokyčiai labiau sietini su moterų išsilavinimo struktūros kaita. Vyrų išsilavinimo struktūra teigiama linkme kito ne taip intensyviai, o kai kuriais atžvilgiais įvykę pokyčiai net vertintini neigiamai. Based on the 2011 and earlier population censuses the article analyzes educational structure of the Lithuanian population. Overall level of education among women and men (measured by highest completed level of educational attainment) and its changes since 1959, men’s and women’s education by age, men’s and women’s command of foreign languages by age are discussed. The article argues that even though the overall education level of the Lithuanian population during the last decade has increased – the proportion of persons with higher and secondary education has increased, the proportion of persons with primary education has decreased – these changes were unevenly distributed by gender. Positive changes are associated with adjustments in women’s educational structure, whereas men’s educational structure has positively shifted to a lesser degree and in some respects these changes can be qualifi ed as negative. [...] Analysis of the educational structure by gender and age reveals that differences in the overall level of higher education among women and men are determined by signifi cant discrepancies in young and middle-aged cohorts. For instance, in the age group 25–29 566 women per 1000 population aged 10 years and older have higher education compared to only 373 men with the same level of educational attainment. These gender differences by age in higher education are mirrored in the age-specifi c rates of upper secondary education – only in the youngest cohorts (aged 15–19 and 20–24) the numbers of women and men per 1000 population with upper secondary education are similar. Already in the age group 25–29 the rate for men is 1,4 times higher than the rate for women. Thus, it might be assumed that attainment of upper secondary education functions as a prerequisite for pursuit of higher education in women’s case but often signifi es the end of educational career for men.