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On 10 March 2023, the House of Lords is scheduled to debate the following motion:

Baroness Scott of Bybrook to move that this House takes note of International Women’s Day and steps to support the education of women and girls in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

International Women’s Day (IWD) takes place on 8 March each year. It is a global day that aims to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, in addition to calling for gender equality and women’s rights. Every year, both the IWD digital hub and the UN adopt an annual theme. In 2023, the IWD digital hub announced the EmbraceEquity hashtag as its theme, stating that:

Equality is the goal, and equity is the means to get there. Through the process of equity, we can reach equality.

The UN’s IWD theme for 2023 is ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’. The UN has stated that this theme “recognises and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education”. As part of this focus, the UN has highlighted the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. For example, the UN noted that 37% of women do not use the internet and that 259 million fewer women have access to the internet than men, despite accounting for nearly half of the world’s population.

1. What progress was made on global gender inequality in 2022?

1.1 ‘Global gender gap report’ 2022

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), between 2021 and 2022 the overall global gender gap slightly narrowed. Since 2006, the WEF has published an annual ‘global gender gap report’. This report contains the findings of its global gender gap index, which is used to assess gender gaps across four key areas (sub-indexes):

  • Health and survival. This measures the gender gap in basic health and survival, including life expectancy and sex ratio at birth.
  • Educational attainment. This measures the gender gap in access to and attainment of education.
  • Economic participation and opportunity. This measures the gender gap in several economic areas, such as labour force participation, wage equality and representation in leadership positions.
  • Political empowerment. This measures the gender gap in political representation and empowerment, for example, the number of women in parliaments and ministerial positions.

In July 2022, the WEF published its latest annual report detailing the findings of its 2022 index, which benchmarked 146 countries on their progress towards reaching gender parity. The index found that no country had yet achieved full gender parity. The countries that had closed the highest percentage of their gender gaps were Iceland (90.8%), Finland (86%) and Norway (84.5%). In comparison, the UK had closed 78% of its gender gap, ranking 22nd out of 146 countries.

The index also predicted that, at the current rate of progress, it would take 132 years to reach full global parity. This represented a slight improvement compared with the 2021 estimate (136 years to parity). However, the WEF noted that the improvement “does not compensate for the generational loss” of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; trends leading up to 2020 suggested that the gender gap was then set to close within 100 years.

The following table details the percentage of the global gender gap closed in 2022. This includes how much of the global gender gap had been closed across the four sub-indexes:

Table 1: Percentage of the gender gap closed, 2022
Global gender gap index 68.1%
Health and survival 95.8%
Educational attainment 94.4%
Economic participation and opportunity 60.3%
Political empowerment 22.0%

(World Economic Forum, ‘Global gender gap report 2022’, July 2022, p 11)

1.2 Health and survival

In its report, the WEF noted that the health and survival sub-index was found to have made the most progress of all four sub-indexes, with 95.8% of the gender gap closed. The index also revealed that 141 out of the 146 countries had closed at least 95% of their health gender gaps. The five countries with gender gaps that were larger than 5% were India (93.7%), China (94.0%), Azerbaijan (94.1%), Pakistan (94.4%) and Qatar (94.7%). In comparison, the UK had closed 96.5% of its gender gap in this area, ranking 105th out of 146 countries.

1.3 Educational attainment

Similar to the health and survival sub-index, the global gender gap for educational attainment (94.4%) had almost closed. The index identified that 29 countries had reported full gender parity in educational attainment. In this area, the UK ranked 33rd (99.9%).

Examining primary education, the WEF noted that 64 countries had reached full parity and that nearly 75% of countries included in the 2022 index had achieved a score of 90% or higher in primary education enrolment. However, the WEF warned that “there must be more focus on equitable schooling opportunities”. It noted that in secondary education enrolment 16 countries had reported a gender gap larger than 10%, whilst 29 countries had closed less than 90% of the gender gap in tertiary education enrolment.

1.4 Economic participation and opportunity

The index revealed that 60.3% of the global gender gap for economic participation and opportunity had closed in 2022. The UK had closed 73.3% of the gender gap in this area, ranking 44th.

The WEF stated that performance within this sub-index varied by indicator. Examining income inequality, the WEF reported that gender parity had increased in 2022. It attributed this, in part, to women earning slightly more (+2%) on average and to men earning less (-1.8%) on average than in 2021. The report also noted that 28 countries had closed less than 50% of the gender gap across this indicator, with the lowest levels of parity reported in Iran (16%), Afghanistan (18%) and Algeria (18%).

In 2022, most countries (129 out of 146) in the index reported a reduction in women’s labour-force participation relative to men’s participation. This negatively impacted their scores in the economic participation and opportunity sub-index. Three countries (Burundi, Rwanda and Sierra Leone) reported no change on 2021 scores, whilst 14 countries had increased parity in workforce participation. This included Saudi Arabia, which had gained the highest increase in its gender parity score (an increase of 0.097).

In contrast to the reductions in women’s participation in the labour market, the share of women in senior, legislative and managerial roles increased in 2022 (5.4 percentage points). Pakistan had the smallest share of women in such positions (4.5%), whilst Jamaica had the largest share (56.6%).

1.5 Political empowerment

The WEF said that the political empowerment sub-index in 2022 showed no overall progress against 2021 (remaining at 22%). The sub-index also had the widest range of dispersion amongst countries in the index, with Vanuatu having the lowest ranking (0%) and Iceland having the highest (87%). In addition to Iceland, 11 countries had closed more than 50% of their gap. This included New Zealand (66%), Germany (55%) and Ireland (50%). The UK had closed 42.3% of its gender gap in political empowerment, ranking 24th.

2. What action has the UK government taken to support the education of women and girls in the UK and worldwide?

The theme for this year’s House of Lords debate on IWD is education. In recent years, successive Conservative governments have taken measures to try to narrow gender gaps in education in the UK and across the world. For example, they have funded initiatives in the UK to improve access for girls to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects and funded programmes in developing countries to improve both access to and the quality of education. Some of these measures are set out below.

2.1 UK

Much of the government policy on the education of girls in the UK in recent years has focused on increasing the number of girls taking STEM subjects across all key stages in education. However, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee are currently running an inquiry about how attitudes in educational settings, from early years to university, affect women and girls throughout their lives.

Focusing on STEM, in September 2022, the government set out the measures it was taking to encourage young people to take up STEM qualifications in answer to a written question. It highlighted the introduction of T Levels in September 2020, which it described as a “high-quality technical alternative to A levels”. T Level subjects include construction, engineering and manufacturing. The government stated that to challenge stereotypes, including gender stereotypes, it was using T Level ambassadors to “showcase a wide range of voices” from those already studying the qualifications, including girls taking STEM-related T Levels.

The government also said that it was funding different initiatives to increase the number of girls taking STEM subjects. This included funding the Stimulating Physics Network, which was designed to increase the uptake of A level physics from students in underrepresented groups, such as girls. Additionally, the government said it had invested £84mn to create the National Centre for Computing Education, which aimed to improve the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science at GCSE and A level, particularly amongst girls.

2.2 Have government measures improved access to STEM subjects?

In the 2021–22 academic year, there was a gender imbalance amongst those studying STEM subjects in higher education. More men than women were enrolled on subjects including computing, engineering and technology, and mathematical and physical sciences.

Some organisations and groups have called on the government to go further to increase the uptake of girls studying STEM subjects in the UK.

In an article for FE News (a further education focused news website) in January 2023, the chief of learning at the Micro:Bit Educational Foundation, Magda Wood, warned that STEM was not being “presented as a safe space” for girls and this prevented girls from studying the subjects. She argued that much of what the government could do to “solve STEM’s diversity issue” was dependent on “what happens in the classroom”. Therefore, she called on the government to categorise all STEM subjects as “core subjects” and give them the same recognition and investment of resources as other subjects. Additionally, she said that the government needed to “show some initiative” to change societal views on STEM professions by presenting the opportunities to young people that STEM subjects could have. She argued that this would “make sure young girls know it is a space for them”.

In November 2021, the Institute of Engineering and Technology published an open letter it had sent to the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, calling on the government to address a skills gap within UK workforces. In the letter, the 167 cosignatories warned that there was a shortfall of 173,000 workers in the STEM sector, estimated to cost the economy £1.5bn per year. They argued that “future skills need addressing now” and that the solution “lies in education”. They called on the government to collaborate with STEM education supporters, academia and industry to provide teachers “with the tools they need to showcase that science, design and technology and maths all have vital elements of engineering within them” and to proactively encourage the teaching of engineering in our primary schools”.

In the same month, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee launched its inquiry into diversity and inclusion in STEM. On the inquiry webpage, the committee stated that there was “evidence to suggest” that women, amongst other groups, were underrepresented in education, training and employment related to STEM. The committee said it would be exploring how the government, funding bodies, industry and academia could work to address issues identified during the inquiry and has run a number of evidence sessions. As of February 2023, the committee has not published a report of its findings.

In June 2020, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM published a report into equity in STEM education. The APPG stated that initiatives to attract more girls into physics and computing had received government support which was “welcome” but was “yet to make a significant difference in these subjects at GCSE or A level”. The APPG also made several recommendations for the government, including calling for STEM-specific teaching to be strengthened and a “more joined-up approach” to tackle the causes of inequity in STEM education.

2.3 Worldwide

Successive Conservative governments have also taken measures to try to remove the barriers to girls’ education and promote gender equality in education in developing countries. The charity UNICEF states that there are many barriers to girls’ education, which vary amongst countries and communities. Barriers include discrimination based on gender stereotypes in wider communities and poorer families often favouring boys when investing in education.

In February 2023, the government announced £80mn of funding over the next four years (2023 to 2026) to support the work of Education Cannot Wait, which is the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies. The government said that the funding would go towards providing safe learning spaces, teaching materials and psychological and social support to children and adolescents affected by war, disaster and displacement. In September 2022, the government launched the ‘Commitment to action on foundational learning’ initiative alongside several organisations, including UNICEF and the World Bank. The initiative sought to commit countries to act to secure foundation learning for all children and ensure that children can read, do basic mathematics and build socio-emotional skills by the age of 10. In September 2022, the government reported that the initiative had been endorsed by Bulgaria, Egypt and Sierra Leone.

To mark IWD in March 2022, the government and businesses from the private sector, including Microsoft and Unilever, launched a global programme called the ‘Girls’ education skills partnership’. The partnership sought to improve girls’ access to education in developing countries. Funds were contributed by the government and private sector (£9mn and £11mn, respectively). Funding would also be used towards expanding Generation Unlimited’s ‘Passport to earning’ platform, which would provide girls with free, certified education and skills training, which could be used to support future employment. Generation Unlimited is a public-private youth partnership launched by the UN secretary-general in 2018. The countries identified for the platform included Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan.

In July 2021, the government co-hosted the Global Education Summit alongside the Kenyan government, which raised £2.9bn for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). The GPE is a multilateral partnership aiming to improve education in developing countries. The partnership also seeks to increase the number of girls who complete primary and secondary education. At the summit, the government announced £430mn of new funding would go towards the partnership.

In May 2021, the then government published the ‘girls’ education action plan’. The plan detailed measures to help meet the G7’s targets for 2026 of getting 40 million more girls into school and 20 million more girls reading by 10 years old. This included rolling out new initiatives in Africa and Asia focused on “overcoming the barriers that marginalised girls face during adolescence” and providing catch-up programmes to “get girls on track with their learning”. Alongside the publication of the action plan, the government announced £55mn of funding to create the ‘What Works Hub for Global Education’ programme. The aim of the programme would be to advise governments in Africa and Asia on reforming school systems and supporting female enrolment in education.

2.4 How effective has recent government policy been in supporting girls’ education in developing countries?

Although the UK aid-funded education programmes in developing countries have been praised, barriers remain.

In April 2022, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) published its report following a review of UK aid-funded education programming in developing countries. ICAI stated that it found education programmes funded by UK aid to be “ambitious”, “mainly well implemented” and “relevant to the needs of highly marginalised children, particularly hard-to-reach girls”. Despite this, ICAI argued that barriers remained for improving the quality of education and learning in these countries. Some of this was because of attitudes to gender roles and inadequate menstrual hygiene management facilities in schools. ICAI also noted that a quarter of programmes with activities to support girls did not meet the expectations of the former Department for International Development, now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in this area. Therefore, ICAI made several recommendations, including calling on the FCDO to ensure that all its aid towards education programmes “maintains a consistent focus on girls” in its design and implementation.

The government published its response to the review in June 2022, accepting ICAI’s recommendations. Specifically addressing the point that aid for education programmes needed to maintain a consistent focus on girls, the government stated that it had “made progress” in this area but agreed there was “still more to do”. It stated that it would measure its success by progress made by girls “in the most challenging of circumstances”, and that if they are “thriving in education, then we will know we are making progress”.

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Cover image from Freepik.