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Chapter 4: Education
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Increasing educational attainment
More than half of all women in Canada have had some form of postsecondary educational training. As of 2001, 15% of women aged 15 and over had a university degree, while 17% had a college certificate or diploma, 8% had a trades certificate and 11% had some other form of educational experience past high school. At the same time, though, 21% of women had attended, but had not graduated from, high school, while 10% had not gone past grade 8. (Table 4.1)
There has been a dramatic increase in the proportion of the female population with a university degree in the past several decades. Indeed, this has been one of the real success stories for Canadian women. In 2001, 15% of women aged 15 and over had a university degree, up from 10% in 1991 and just 3% in 1971. (Chart 4.1)
Chart 4.1 Percentage of women and men aged 15 and over with a university degree, 1971 to 2001
Women, though, are still slightly less likely than men to have a university degree, although the gap is currently much smaller than in the past. In 2001, 15% of women aged 15 and over had a university degree, whereas the figure was 16% for their male counterparts. In contrast, in 1971, the percentage of women with a degree (3%) had been less than half the figure for men (7%).
While almost as many women as men currently are university graduates, female representation among those with a degree declines sharply among those with postgraduate training. In 2001, women made up 52% of all those with a Bachelor’s or first professional degree, whereas they represented 44% of those with a Master’s degree and just 27% of those with an earned doctorate. (Table 4.1)
Table 4.1 Educational attainment of people aged 15 and over, 2001
Among those with non-university forms of postsecondary training, women are more likely than men to have graduated from a community college. In 2001, 17% of women, versus 13% of men, had credentials from a community college. Women were also somewhat more likely than men to be high school graduates, while they were less likely to have a trades certificate or diploma. That year, just 8% of women aged 15 and over, versus 14% of their male counterparts, had completed a trade school program.
Young women better educated
As with men, educational attainment levels among women have increased with each succeeding generation. As of 2001, two out of three (67%) women aged 20 to 24 had some form of postsecondary educational training, not including those with a certificate or diploma from a trade school, whereas this was the case for 60% of women aged 25 to 44, 44% of those aged 45 to 64, and just 22% of senior women. (Table 4.2)
Table 4.2 Educational attainment of women and men, by age, 2001
At the same time, the share of women who have not gone beyond high school increases sharply with age. In 2001, just 26% of females aged 20 to 24 had either only finished high school or had not attended high school at all. In contrast, 73% of women aged 65 and over had not completed high school; indeed, 60% of senior women had not attended high school at all.
Women in younger age ranges are also currently better educated than their male contemporaries. Among those aged 20 to 24 in 2001, 14% of women, compared with 8% of men in this age range, were university graduates, while 24% of these women, versus 17% of men, had a certificate or diploma from a community college. On the other hand, just 26% of women in this age range had not gone beyond high school, compared with 36% of males. Indeed, 19% of men aged 20 to 24, versus 13% of women, had never attended high school.
There was a similar pattern among those aged 25 to 44, although the gaps between the educational attainment levels of women and men were not quite as pronounced as they were among those aged 20 to 24. In 2001, for example, 23% of women aged 25 to 44 had a degree, compared with 21% of men.
In contrast to trends in the younger population, women in older age ranges tend to not be as well educated as their male counterparts. Among seniors, women were only half as likely as men to be university graduates in 2001, while 60% of women aged 65 and over, versus 54% of senior men, had never attended high school.
Provincial differences in university graduation rates
Women in Ontario are more likely to have a university degree than their counterparts in other provinces. In 2001, 17% of the female population aged 15 and over in Ontario had a degree, while the figure in the remaining provinces ranged from 15% in both British Columbia and Alberta to just 10% in Newfoundland and Labrador. Women in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, though, were somewhat less likely than their male counterparts to have a university degree that year, whereas in the remaining provinces women were generally about as likely as men to be university graduates. (Chart 4.2)
A relatively large proportion of women in both the Yukon and Northwest territories also have university degrees. In fact, in 2001, 17% of females aged 15 and over in the Yukon, the same share as in Ontario, were university graduates. At the same time, 15% of women in the Northwest Territories, about the national average, were university graduates, whereas the figure in Nunavut, 8%, was the lowest in the country. In each of the territories, though, women were somewhat more likely to have a university degree than their male counterparts.
Women majority in full-time university studies
The overall difference in the proportions of women and men with a university degree is likely to close even further in the future as women currently make up the majority of full-time students in Canadian universities. In the 2001/02 academic year, 57% of all full-time university students were female, up from 52% in 1992/93 and 37% in 1972/73. (Table 4.3)
Table 4.3 Full-time university enrolment of women, by level, 1972-73 to 2001-02
Women’s share of full-time university enrolment, however, declines the higher the level of study. In 2001/02, women made up 58% of all students in Bachelor’s and first professional degree programs, compared 51% of those in Master’s programs and 46% of those working toward their doctorate.
The share of enrolment accounted for by women in graduate level programs, though, has increased substantially over the past two decades. In 2001/02, women accounted for 46% of all doctoral candidates, up from 35% in 1992/93 and 31% in 1981/82. The current figure is also over twice the figure recorded in 1972/73, when women made up less than one in five (19%) of all doctoral candidates. During the same period, women’s share of total enrolment among Master’s students also nearly doubled, rising from 27% to 51%.
Women also currently make up the majority of full-time students in most university departments. In 2001/02, almost eight out of 10 of all students in education (78%) were female, while the figure was 75% in health-related programs, 66% in fine and applied arts, and around 60% in each of the social sciences, humanities and agricultural and biological sciences. (Table 4.4)
Women also constitute a majority of doctoral students in several of these fields of study. In fact, in 2001/02, women made up 68% of full-time doctoral candidates in education, around 60% of those in both fine and applied arts and the health sciences, 56% of those in the social sciences, and 50% in the humanities.
At the same time, though, women continue to account for much smaller shares of full-time enrolment in mathematics and science faculties. In 2001/02, women made up only 30% of all university students in mathematics and physical sciences, and just 24% of those in engineering and applied sciences.
The proportion of women in both these highly-technical areas of study, though, has increased since the early 1970s. In 2001/02, women made up 24% of students in engineering and applied sciences, up from 3% in 1972/73, while in the same period, women’s share of enrolment in mathematics and physical sciences rose from 19% to 30%. (Chart 4.3)
Most of the increase in the number of women enrolled in mathematics and physical sciences occurred in the 1970s. Indeed, there have only been modest gains in the share of students studying in these areas accounted for by women since the early 1980s. Between 1972/73 and 1981/82, for example, the share of students in these faculties accounted for by women rose over seven percentage points from 19% to 27%. In contrast, in the next two decades, the figure rose only a total of four percentage points to 30%.
While there was also a substantial jump in the share of engineering and applied sciences students accounted for by women in the 1970s, there has also been relatively strong growth in the number of women in these faculties in the past couple of decades. In 2001/02, 24% of all of full-time students in these faculties were women, up from 18% in 1992/93, 11% in 1981/82, and just 3% in 1972/73. (Chart 4.3).
Part-time university enrolment of women
A substantial number of women currently attend university on a part-time basis. In 2001/02, 150,000 women were enrolled in university programs on a part-time basis. As with those enrolled full-time, women make up the majority of part-time university students. That year, females made up 60% of all part-time university students, while they represented 57% of all full-time university enrolment. (Chart 4.4)
Chart 4.4 Part-time university enrolment, by level, 2001-02
Women also make up the majority of part-time university students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2001/02, 61% of part-time undergraduate students were female, as were 58% of those at the graduate level.
The proportion of female university students enrolled on a part-time basis, however, has declined somewhat in recent years. In 2001/02, 31% of all female university students were studying part-time, down from 34% in 1997/98. This resulted from the fact that the actual number of women enrolled as part-time university students was unchanged in this period while the number of women enrolled on a full-time basis increased.
The share of female university students enrolled on part-time basis, though, is still higher than that for men. In 2001/02, 31% of all women enrolled in a university program were studying part-time, compared with 27% of male students.
Women majority in community college
Women also currently make up the majority of students enrolled at the community college level. In 1999/2000, just over 220,000 women were enrolled full-time in a community college program. These women made up 54% of all full-time students in these facilities that year. (Table 4.5)
In fact, there has been little change in the share of community college enrolment accounted for by women over the past quarter century. In 1999/2000, females made up 54% of all community college students, a figure that is only slightly higher than that recorded in the period from 1976/77 through 1997/98. (Chart 4.5)
Chart 4.5 Women as a percentage of full-time community college enrolment, 1976-77 to 1999-2000
As in universities, women make up the majority of students in most fields of study at the community college level. Indeed, in 1999/2000, women accounted for around nine out of 10 full-time college students enrolled in each of secretarial science (93%), educational and counselling services (92%), and nursing programs (89%), while they represented 80% of those in health sciences other than nursing, 70% of those in the social sciences, and 66% of those in the humanities. In contrast, women accounted for less than half (46%) of full-time community college enrolment in natural science and primary industry programs. They also made up only 24% of those in mathematics and computer science, and just 15% of students in engineering and other technologies. (Table 4.5)
Table 4.5 Full-time community college enrolment of women, by field of study, 1999-2000
Continuing education
A substantial number of employed women take courses designed to upgrade their job skills. In 2002, almost 2.5 million employed women, 37% of the total number of women with jobs, were participating in some kind of job-related education or training program. In fact, working women were somewhat more likely to participate in a job-related education or training program than their male counterparts, 33% of whom were in such programs that year. (Table 4.6)
Most women participating in job-related training are enrolled in non-academic courses oriented towards improving their employment skills. In 2002, 31% of all employed women were taking courses of this nature, while 10% were taking courses designed to upgrade their academic qualifications. Both figures were somewhat higher than those for their male counterparts.
Apprenticeship training
Women continue to make up a very small proportion of those registered in apprenticeship programs1 in what have been traditionally male-dominated trades. In 2002, just 2% of all apprentices registered in 15 predominant trades2 were women. (Table 4.7)
The total number of women participating in these programs, however, has risen in the past decade and a half. In 2002, just over 3,000 women were registered in apprenticeship programs in the 15 predominant trades, up from under 1,000 in 1988. As a result, the share of these positions occupied by women has inched up from around half a per cent in the late 1980s to the current figure of 2%.
Of apprentices in the 15 identified trades, women make up the largest share of those in painter/decorator programs. In 2002, women made up 8% of those enrolled in this program, while they represented around 3% of those apprenticing as one of welders, machinists, or industrial electricians. In contrast, women made up only around 1% or less of those enrolled in programs for millwrights, bricklayers, plumbers, heavy duty equipment operators, auto body mechanics, and refrigeration and air conditioning repairpersons.
However, there have been increases in the representation of women in some of these apprenticeship programs in the past decade. The share of women working as painting and decorating apprentices, for example, doubled between 1997 and 2002, rising from 4% to 8% in just five years. In the same period, the share of apprentices accounted by women tripled among both industrial electricians and pipe fitters, while the figure almost doubled among welders. On the other hand, there was little change in female participation in the other programs listed in the past five years.
Literacy skills
Women have somewhat higher literacy skills, on average, than the male population. In 2003, 19% of women aged 16 and over, compared with only 16% of men, performed at the highest levels of the international Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey. At the same time, though, about the same shares of women and men had very limited reading skills. That year, 20% of both the female and male populations aged 16 and over were only able to perform simple reading tasks such as locating one piece of information in a text. (Chart 4.6)
Chart 4.6 Prose literacy levels of women and men aged 16 and over, 2003
Older women are much more likely than their younger counterparts to have literacy difficulties. Indeed, in 2003, over half (53%) of women aged 66 and over had very limited reading skills, compared with 26% of women aged 56 to 65, 15% of those aged 46 to 55, 13% of those aged 36 to 45, and 10% or less of those in age groups under age 35. (Chart 4.7)
Chart 4.7 Percentage of women and men at the lowest prose level, 2003
Senior women are also slightly more likely than their male counterparts to have literacy problems. In 2003, 53% of women aged 66 and over had limited reading skills, while the figure was 49% among men in this age range. In contrast, with the exception of those aged 26 to 35, women in younger age groups are generally less likely than men in these age ranges to have difficulty reading.
Most use the internet
Two out of three women in Canada use the Internet. In 2003, 68% of women aged 15 and over reported that they used the Internet during the previous 12 months. The proportion of women using the Internet, though, was slightly below the figure for men, 72% of whom reported using the Internet in the same period. (Chart 4.8)
Not surprisingly, reported Internet use by women is highest among those in younger age groups. Indeed, in 2003, 94% of women aged 15 to 24 said they had used the Internet within the previous year, while the figure was 84% among those aged 25 to 44. In contrast, just 63% of women aged 45 to 64 had used the Internet in the previous 12 months, while the figure was only 14% among senior women.
Young women are about as likely as their male counterparts to use the Internet. Indeed, in 2003, 94% of both women and men aged 15 to 25 reported using the Internet within the previous year. There was a similar trend among those aged 25 to 44, while in older age ranges women were somewhat less likely than their male counterparts to use the Internet. Among seniors, for example, just 14% of women, about half the figure for men aged 65 and over (27%), had used the Internet the previous year.
There is a similar pattern for email usage. In 2003, 64% of women aged 15 and over reported they had used email in the previous 12 months, a couple of percentage points below the figure for men (66%). Again, young women were the most likely to have used electronic mail, while few senior women used this technology. Indeed, that year, just 15% of women aged 65 and over had used email in the previous year. (Chart 4.9)
Chart 4.9 Percentage of women and men who reported using email in the previous 12 months, 2003
Notes
- Apprenticeship training involves a contract between an apprentice and an employer, registered with a province, in which the employer provides the apprentice with training and experience for a trade. Programs vary in length from one to five years, depending on the trade. Registered apprenticeship combines on-the-job experience with six to eight week periods of in-class training. There are 180 established trades in Canada that have recognized registered apprenticeship programs.
- The 15 trades discussed in this section are among those with the largest number of participants. There are also two trades—hair stylists and cooks—which do attract a large number of female applicants.
