Higher Education: Gender Biasness Myth

In the past, there have been many debates that women are not allowed to study due to the patriarchal mindset. Let us try to break this myth of women’s higher studies.

The measure that is used to calculate parity in education is the Gender Parity Index (GPI), which is the ratio of Female Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) to Male GER. A GPI of 1 indicates parity between the sexes.

Select states of India having the highest GPIs are given below:

State	GPI
Kerala	1.39
Meghalaya	1.28
Goa	1.16
Uttar Pradesh	1.16
Jammu and Kashmir	1.10
Manipur	1.07
Uttrakhand	1.05
Chandigarh	1.03
Assam	0.98
Haryana	0.96
Delhi	0.94
Himachal Pradesh	0.94

In the above table it can be clearly seen that many states have a GPI of over 1, which means that more percentage of women (of the total women) are being imparted higher education as compared to men. It also implies that there is no biasism in imparting higher education for women.

It would be interesting to note that in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarkhand and UT of Chandirarh, the GPI is over 1, implying women are more educated than men. In the states of Haryana and Delhi, the GPI is nearly equal to 1 implying no bias in educating women in these states and they are equally qualified as compared to their male counterparts.

Could anyone explain to me how does patriarchy stop women from being educated? As can be seen above, states which are touted to be highly patriarchal have a GPI of above 1 or nearly equal to 1. Further, the data also rebuts the myth that women are deliberately not sent to schools or refrained from higher studies.

Let us all Stand Up for a Cause…

——

Source: Table 11a: All India Survey on Higher Education 2011-12 (Provisional), Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Related articles

• Female Literacy rate rising more than Male Literacy rate