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One of the commitments assumed with the signing of the Plan of Action by the Heads of State and Government at the Second Summit of the Americas (Santiago, 1998), was to “ensure access to and improve the quality of education” (introductory paragraph) and to eliminate “all forms of discrimination against women (Area IV: Eradication of Poverty and Discrimination).

Under mandate from the Summit, the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), a specialized agency of the Organization of American States (OAS)-together with the United Nations Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank and other international cooperation agencies-was charged with following up on commitments regarding advancement of the Hemisphere’s female population. In fact, the CIM Strategic Plan of Action approved in 1995 contains a series of actions aimed at improving the educational and employment situation of women in the Americas.

The CIM Executive Committee has thus agreed to prepare this document as a means of contributing to an understanding of the problems facing education in our countries from the perspective of gender. This perspective not only broadens analysis, but also shows that it is impossible to speak of sustainable human development in the Hemisphere without making advances toward eliminating the obstacles to education encountered by half of the Region's population.

This study has been prepared by Ana Isabel García, a Costa Rican sociologist, journalist and social researcher who has written various publications on the situation of women in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has served as international consultant for several agencies, headed the Costa Rican governmental office on women (1994-1998) and acted as General Coordinator of the network of homologous offices in the Latin American and Caribbean Region (1996-1998).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION
THE EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE AMERICAS

CHAPTER I
THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

CHAPTER II
EDUCATIONAL SITUATION OF WOMEN IN THE HEMISPHERE

2.1 Women and Illiteracy

2.2 Women and the Educational Level of the Population Over 25

2.3 Women and Coverage of the Educational System

2.3.1 Women and Pre-Primary Education

2.3.2 Women and Pre-Primary Education

2.3.3 Women and Secondary Education

2.3.4 Women and Higher Education

2.4 Women and Scholastic Performance

2.5 Women in Schoolbooks

2.6 Education and Training for Women Is Inadequate for Accessing the Labor Market

2.7 Women as Teachers

CHAPTER III
THE CURRENT SITUATION OF WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL STATUS AND PRINCIPAL PROBLEMS

3.1. The Situation Today

3.2 Principal Problems

CHAPTER IV
PROPOSALS FOR LINES OF ACTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX OF TABLES

Table 1
EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC SPENDING ON EDUCATION

Table 2
EVOLUTION OF ILLITERACY RATES ACCORDING TO SEX AND ZONE
(percent illiteracy by age group)

Table 3
ILLITERACY RATE IN INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS IN GUATEMALA, PANAMA, PARAGUAY AND MEXICO, BY SEX (per 100 persons)

Table 4
PERCENTAGE OF ILLITERACY BY SEX AND AGE GROUP IN 1990

Table 5
EDUCATIONAL LEVELS FOR PERSONS OVER 15 YEARS OF AGE, BY SEX
(percent)

Table 6
EDUCATIONAL LEVELS OF INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS IN BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY, BY LANGUAGE NORMALLY USED (percent)

Table 7
EVOLUTION OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM COVERAGE BY SEX AND LEVEL OF SCHOOLING
(net rates per one hundred)

Table 8
EVOLUTION OF PRE-PRIMARY ENROLLMENT BY SEX

Table 9
EVOLUTION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT BY SEX

Table 10
EVOLUTION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT BY SEX

Table 11
SECONDARY-LEVEL ENROLLMENT IN SELECTED COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO TYPE OF SCHOOLING

Table 12
EVOLUTION OF UNIVERSITY ENROLLMENT, BY SEX

Table 13
EVOLUTION OF GRADE REPETITION IN PRIMARY EDUCATION, BY SEX
(percent)

Table 14
EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS THAT HAVE REPEATED AT LEAST ONE GRADE IN THE UNITED STATES, BY SEX AND SOCIOECONOMIC LEVEL, ACCORDING TO RACE
(percent in 1988)

Table 15
FEMALE PRESENCE IN THE SCHOOLBOOKS OF SELECTED COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO LOCATION OF APPEARANCE

Table 16
GENERAL ENVIRONMENT WHERE ACTIVITIES TAKE PLACE IN THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCHOOLBOOKS USED IN SELECTED COUNTRIES, ACCORDING TO SEX

Table 17
FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN TEACHING RANKS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF EDUCATION, MOST RECENT YEAR AVAILABLE (percent)

INDEX OF CHARTS

Chart 1
SIGNATORIES TO THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (as of January 5, 1998)

Chart 2
SYNOPTIC CHART, SIGNIFICANT REFERENCES TO WOMEN AND EDUCATION IN REGIONAL AND WORLD DOCUMENTS