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From school to PG, girls now outnumber boys
NSO data show girls outperforming boys in education at various levels in India, with near parity in school enrollment and a growing female share in higher education. The 2025 NSO report highlights shifts in literacy, enrolment, and discipline preferences, though gaps persist in outcomes and spending patterns.
Why It Matters
The data indicate a generational shift toward female education, which could influence India's workforce, social dynamics, and gender equality initiatives.
Timeline
4 Events
May 1, 2026: Article reports NSO data on narrowing gender gaps in education
May 1, 2026
The article summarizes a broad shift: girls now outnumber boys in school enrolment and across foundational to secondary stages; in higher education, female GER has risen to around 30.2%, and women account for a majority of pass-outs. It notes declines in dropout rates from 2022-23 to 2024-25, a narrowing literacy gap among youth, and continued discipline-based segmentation in higher education, with women concentrated in arts, sciences, social sciences and medical streams, while men dominate engineering, technology, IT and management. It also cites mean years of schooling for women at 7.4 years versus an overall average of 8.4 years, and household spending patterns favoring boys (Rs 13,901) over girls (Rs 12,101).
2025: Women surpass or nearly half of higher education pass-outs; MPhil share high
2025
In the NSO report 'Women and Men in India 2025', women account for a marginal majority of total higher education pass-outs (51.48%), with particularly high representation at advanced levels such as MPhil (76.14%), and more than half of undergraduate and postgraduate completions; participation is spreading across several disciplines.
2022: GER gains for girls; female GER exceeds at school stages
2022
Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, female gross enrolment ratio (GER) rose from 28.5% to 30.2%, while male GER rose from 28.3% to 28.9%. The data indicate girls now outperform boys across school stages, and the adjusted net enrolment rate (ANER) for girls at the secondary level has surpassed boys in recent years.
1981: Female literacy at 30.6%
1981
The NSO notes that female literacy was 30.6% in 1981, marking the early point in a long trend of improving literacy among women relative to men.