Education gap between men and women, among Hindus and Muslims.

A top US research organization, Pew International, in a study titled “Religion and Education Around the World”, on the basic education in men and women has revealed some astonishing facts. It said that Hindus may have made “substantial educational gains in recent decades”, yet the fact is, they “have the largest educational gender gap of any religion in the world”.

Below is the result of their study, published in graphical form. The average years of formal schooling for Hindu men is only 6.9, as compared to women who are trailing behind by 2.7 years, i.e having an average schooling of only 4.2 years.

The Pew International report says, “On average, Hindu men have 2.7 more years of schooling than Hindu women, and just over half of Hindu women (53%) have no formal schooling, compared with 29% of Hindu men. The gender gap in higher education is narrower, but Hindu men are still nearly twice as likely as women to have post-secondary degrees (13% vs. 7%).”

Muslims’ gender gap in education

The report also notes that while Muslims’ gender gap in educational attainment is quite poor, it is not as bad that of Hindus- 1.5 as compared to 2.7 in Hindus. It says, “Muslim women around the globe have an average of 4.9 years of schooling, compared with 6.4 years among Muslim men. And formal education is especially low among Hindu women, who have 4.2 years of schooling on average, compared with 6.9 years among Hindu men.”

It is not just in gender gap in education that the Hindus are lagging behind. The report alarmingly notes, “about four-in-ten Hindus (41%)” have “no formal schooling” as against “more than one-third of Muslims (36%).

Hindus in America lead in education

The report also notes that Hindus outside Asia have high education credentials. In America, they have the highest average school years, higher than the Jews and average American. “Hindus in the United States have 15.7 years of schooling, on average – a full year more than the next most highly educated U.S. religious group (Jews), and nearly three years more than the average American adult (12.9 years).