More girls complete higher education than boys, but the gender pay gap persists

The widening gender gap in higher education may prove to be one of the most transformative trends of our time.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of girls completing higher education compared to boys. This trend reflects successful efforts to promote women's participation in education, challenging traditional gender stereotypes and socio-cultural barriers.

However, despite this success in education, the gender pay gap remains glaring. Women, although educated, continue to face challenges in the labor market, where they are often paid less than their male colleagues for the same work or similar tasks.

According to the latest INSTAT data, 21.4% of over 25-year-olds have higher education, compared to 18.3% of boys.

According to teacher Alba Ramallari, this tendency is related to several reasons. According to her, Albanian families have a greater tendency to support girls to pursue higher education, seeing them as an investment for the future of the family, especially if the boys are more engaged in practical work or are emigrating.

Sociologist Eris Dhamo says that, although girls are benefiting more from educational opportunities and even end up with higher results in many fields, they continue to face discrimination in the labor market.

This discrimination appears in various forms, including the choice of occupation, barriers to career advancement, and traditional gender roles that often force women to take on more responsibilities in family care.

"These factors affect that women do not benefit from their education in the same way as men, resulting in lower wages and fewer opportunities for professional advancement, regardless of academic preparation," says Ms. Damo.

Career expert Erion Muça says interventions aimed at improving these inequalities should focus not only on ensuring equal educational opportunities, but also on creating a labor market that fairly rewards achievements and skills, regardless of gender. "This requires changes in employment policies, recruitment practices and salary evaluation, to ensure that girls' educational success translates into professional and economic success," says Mr. Mucha.

Education not only broadens horizons, it also offers great economic power, and graduates can expect to earn, on average, about a million dollars more over their careers than high school graduates, according to a study from the Georgetown University Center in the USA.

 

Women are paid 6.2% less than men

In 2023, the average salary in the economy reached 70.5 thousand ALL, according to data published by INSTAT. Compared to last year, the average salary has increased by 14%.

A man was paid an average of 72.7 thousand ALL per month, or 14% more than a year ago.

Women continue to be paid less than men. Their average salary in 2023 was 68.2 thousand ALL, or 6.2% less than that of men, at the same levels as the previous year, but worsened compared to 2021, when the salary gap between the two sexes reached its lowest level historical of 4.5%.

Out of 36 group-professions that INSTAT reports, only in 5 of them, (Administrative and commercial managers; Legislators, senior civil servants of the state administration and executive directors;

Employees in electro-technology professions; Service and support workers; Employees of personal and defense services) or 14% of the total profession group, women are paid more than men./Monitor