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This study aims to explore the higher education expansion phenomenon and to what extent that expansion could reshape the pattern of gender.

We selected Taiwan's higher education as a research target. First, we describe the gender diversity patterns in the humanity, social science and STEM programs according to Trow's definition. Second, we identify discrepancies in gender in the major programs according to different indices. Becker’s D, Blau index, GPI, trend analysis and multiple comparisons were used to transform the comparison series data.

First, to assess system-wide gender diversity, it was shown that in the elite stage, the D is more sensitive than the Blau index in plotting trends. Second, neither the D nor the Blau index showed sensitivity in humanity and social science programs in the post-mass stage. Third, the GPI more accurately detects differences in gender patterns in the mass and universal stages.

This study illuminates gender diversity patterns with indices transformation in higher education. Considering higher education expansion is a global phenomenon, the fitted indices can be used to detect gender diversity issues in wider higher education settings.

This study provides an example for addressing the issue using different indices to identify previous and future trends in the higher education system. The study suggests alternative interpretations for gender diversity in various programs that will assist in modifying related gender policies in higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the spatial patterns of gender inequality in junior high school enrollment and the educational resource investments associated with the spatial trends.

The paper uses data on 170 districts in Ghana and hot spot analysis based on the Getis-Ord Gi statistic, linear regression, and geographically weighted regression to assess spatial variability in gender parity in junior high school enrollment and its association with resource allocation.

The results reveal rural-urban and north-south variability in gender parity. Results show that educational resources contribute to gender parity. At the national level, educational expenditure, and the number of classrooms, teachers, and available writing places have the strongest positive associations with girls’ enrollment. These relationships are spatially moderated, such that predominantly rural and Northern districts experience the most substantial benefits of educational investments.

The findings show that strategic allocation of infrastructure, financial, and human resources through local governments holds promise for a more impactful and sustainable educational development of all children, regardless of gender. Besides seeking solutions that address the lack of resources at the national level, there is a need for locally tailored efforts to remove the barriers to equitable distribution of educational resources across gender and socioeconomic groups.

This paper’s use of advanced spatial analysis techniques allows for in-depth examination of gender parity and investments in educational resources, and highlights the spatial nuances in how such investments predict gender disparities in junior high school enrollment. The findings speak to the need for targeted and localized efforts to address gender and geographical disparities in educational opportunities.

The paper intends to identify the factors that determine the variations in the gender pay gap and female workforce participation at low-skill manufacturing job across Indian states over the time period 2006–2014.

Gender pay gap is measured in two ways: one is scale insensitive and second one is scale sensitive. To construct scale-sensitive gender pay gap measure wage discrimination index is used. For main analysis, a panel framework is used. Fixed effect model and random effect model are estimated along with all relevant diagnostic tests.

Empirical analysis elucidates that male literacy rate, female literacy rate and gender parity index are important factors in explaining the variation in gender pay gap and women workforce participation at sub-national level in India. Female literacy rate significantly reduces the crude pay gap; however, it has insignificant effect on scale-sensitive gender pay gap in low-skill manufacturing sector. Educational enrolment widens up the crude wage gap but narrows down the other one. In case of workforce participation educational attainment and school enrolment both reduce women workforce participation in low-skill manufacturing job.

The present research suffers from two major limitations. Due to lack of information, the paper is unable to study the impacts of female representation in trade unions, availability of supporting infrastructure like day-care facilities for working mothers, etc. in explaining the variation in gender pay gap and women workforce participation. The second limitation is that the research fails to address the issue related to selection into employment. The present paper uses the macro-level state-specific statistics instead of micro-level data; hence the imputed wage for unemployed but potential workers cannot be calculated.

The paper is unique in the sense that it highlights gender pay gap and female workforce participation issue in low-skill manufacturing sector at Indian sub-national level. There are no such papers that highlight these issues in the context of Indian manufacturing sector. Another contribution is that the present paper considers the scale-sensitive gender pay gap, whose determinants are different than crude gender pay gap.

Women’s empowerment remains a key development challenge in Kenya. The purpose of this study is to attempt to understand the status of women’s empowerment and the key contributors to their disempowerment in Kenya’s aquaculture sector.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 534 male and female fish farmers from 300 households drawn from six counties in Kenya (Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Kiambu, Meru and Nyeri). The Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) was adapted to Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Fisheries and Aquaculture Index (A-WEFI) to suit the aquaculture and fisheries sub-sector. The adapted A-WEFI was then used to estimate and the status of women’s and men’s using five domains of empowerment (5DE) and a gender parity index (GPI). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cramer’s V and sensitivity analysis as test statistics.

About 86% of the men and 80% of the women were classified as empowered. The mean score of the 5DE was 0.93 and 0.95 for women and men, respectively. In addition, 82% of the households achieved gender parity, suggesting that for such households, empowerment of men was no greater than that of women. Overall, the results suggest no major differences between the empowerment of women and men. Findings suggest areas of improvement in empowerment: when observed separately, women report lack of agency in production, resource, time-use and allocation and leadership.

This paper adapts the A-WEAI to the fisheries and aquaculture context, in bid to bridge the gap in standard women’s empowerment measurement methods in this area. Also, there are limited empirical studies on the multifaceted empowerment of women in aquaculture in Kenya. The findings are meant to serve as a point of reference for policymakers, as they develop gender-responsive intervention programmes, and in implementing gender mainstreaming in Kenya.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of access to school amongst the indigenous children of India. It looks at the enrolment, gender parity and drop‐out at different levels of school education as well as gender‐wise.

Sociological factors and the economics of education discourses on the significance of education and reasons for impediments to access are reviewed. The paper uses SES data for the year 2006‐2007 published by the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development in the year 2008.

The indigenous children still remain the most deprived group in terms of access to school education and drop‐outs. The girls are the most affected stakeholders. The enrolment and gross enrolment have increased in the last three decades, but it is still very low at the higher levels of schooling. Similarly, the gender gap amongst the indigenous children increases at the higher levels of schooling. The high poverty and opportunity cost of attending schools are the major reasons for low participation.

Although the macro‐level strategies of government reflect an overall increase in enrolment and fall in drop‐out, research is needed to study grass root/micro‐level strategies adopted by NGOs for individual indigenous communities at different locations and their effectiveness.

The effective and equal access to and within indigenous children is an important tool for their socio‐economic development. The paper provides both an aggregated and a disaggregated picture by both gender and state.

This study aims to empirically examine the impact of gender-based inequalities in both education and employment on economic performance using the dataset of Turkey for the period 1975–2018.

This study employs Johansen cointegration tests to analyze the existence of a long-term relation among variables. Furthermore, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimation methods are performed to determine the long-run coefficients.

The findings from the Johansen cointegration analysis confirm that there is a long-term cointegration relation between variables. Moreover, DOLS and FMOLS results reveal that improvements in gender equality in both education and employment have a strong and significant impact on real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the long term.

The authors expect that this study will make remarkable contributions to the future academic studies and policy implementation, as it examines the relation among the variables by including the school life expectancy from primary to tertiary based on the gender parity index (GPI), the gross enrollment ratio from primary to tertiary based on GPI and the ratio of female to male labor force participation (FMLFP) rate.

This paper aims to conduct an empirical investigation of how financial inclusion impacts women empowerment. Then, it examines the overall effect of various dimensions of financial inclusion on women empowerment in developing countries using the panel data for the time period of 2004–2019.

To overcome the problem of endogeneity, the study has used a fixed-effect model, two-stage least square GMM estimation techniques. Secondary data was collected from various websites such as WDI, UNICEF and UNESCO.

The results show that generally, the influence of financial inclusion on women empowerment is positive, confirming previous empirical literature results. The study found evidence that if there is more financial inclusion in the country, it will benefit women by enabling them to see their qualities and skills, which make them strong and dominant. Proper development and enhancement of those skills are only possible if proper education, awareness and space are given to express oneself. According to the results, financial development, gender parity index and women's employment positively affects women empowerment, while gender discrimination has a negative impact on women empowerment. The study highlights that to encourage women empowerment in developing countries. Governments and policymakers have to carefully check and reconsider that what are the most optimal financial inclusion programs that will help to improve the women empowerment in the country.

The study highlights that to encourage women empowerment in developing countries, governments and policymakers have to carefully check and reconsider what are the most optimal financial inclusion programs that will help to improve women empowerment in the country.

The literature does not clearly show the impact of financial inclusion dimensions on women empowerment in developing countries. Therefore, there is a need to use all the dimensions of financial inclusion to check the overall impact on women empowerment in developing countries. For this purpose, the financial inclusion index is developed. A new dimension of non-life insurance is introduced, which has not been used previously by any researcher to check financial inclusion impact.

The majority of poor women in Africa live in rural areas, and investigating their empowerment status and factors influencing their empowerment is therefore a tool for overcoming poverty. This paper investigated the dimensions and determinants of women's empowerment in rural Nigeria.

This study used data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Information on women's agencies, resource, income, leadership and time/workload was used to construct women empowerment index (WEI). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit regression model.

Most of the decisions were made by the women's spouses, while decisions on how to spend her earnings were jointly made with her spouse. A majority of the women did not justify beating nor owned businesses. A larger percentage of rural women were disempowered than men; agency had the highest relative contribution to women's disempowerment; and women in the northern zones of Nigeria were less empowered than their southern counterparts. Husband's education and her age were inversely related to women's empowerments while her education, household size and being the household head were directly related to it.

There is a dearth of empirical studies on multidimensional women's empowerment in rural Nigeria. This study therefore provides a clear understanding of drivers of women's empowerment in rural Nigeria, and its findings are to serve as guiding documents for policymakers in designing gender-responsive interventions programs and implementation of a genuine gender mainstreaming in rural development policy in Nigeria. Further, the findings would contribute to the growing body of knowledge, especially empirical studies, on women's empowerment in Nigeria and the developing world.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2019-0455

Tertiary education in Ghana has seen rapid advancement over the past two decades. This growth is the result of transformative policy reforms such as upgrading polytechnics into higher education status; the establishment of the University of Development Studies (UDS) in the northern part of the country; the amalgamation of existing Colleges of Education into degree awarding institutions; the creation of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to provide supplementary financial support for infrastructure, faculty research and development; expansion of distance education programs; modification of the student loan scheme; and a conducive regulatory environment that encourages private sector participation in higher education provision. In spite of these developments, the system continues to face several challenges such as limited funding to support academic programs; limited participation rates for low-income students, females, and minorities; difficulty recruiting and retaining young academic and research faculty; inadequate research capacities; limited ICT infrastructure to enhance instruction and curriculum delivery and inadequate facilities to support science and technology education; etc. This chapter focuses on the state of public higher education in Ghana with emphasis on current growth and challenges. The chapter offers descriptive analysis based on government policy reports and documents, enrollment data from universities in Ghana, and data from the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Tertiary Education in Ghana.