Diffusion of Education in Six World Regions, 1960-90

Education has been found to be related to fertility and hence population growth; to the status of women; and to labor force skills. Therefore, education is a central issue for development, and it is important to understand the dynamics of education diffusion throughout populations during developmetn. This note analyzes trends in school enrollment and adult education achievement for six world regions, 1960-90. There has been an enormous global increase in both measures of education. Gaps between male and female enrollment remain, and the gap is larger at lower levels of education. As enrollment rates increase and the average level of adult education rises, the gender gap narrows considerably.