Unfortunately, data on the gross enrollment ratio in Belgium is only available for the second half of the twentieth century 14. Therefore, a better indicator of educational expansion is the gross enrollment ratio, the proportion of people from a certain age attending school 13. For example, while education undoubtedly became more accessible in the second half of the twentieth century, it is unclear to what extent the explosion in the number of pupils in the 1960s resulted from educational expansion, rather than the baby boom that came after World War Two 12. The difficulty with absolute figures such as those is that they reflect developments in the size of the population as well as the number of people following an education. The oldest available data indicates the number of pupils or students in educational institutions 11. 14 Statistisch Jaarboek van het Onderwijs (1956-…) Population censuses since 1961.ĥSeveral types of statistical data document the expansion of education in Belgium.Reconstructing the outflow of the Belgian educational system, 1891-1990 In particular, the average age of ending studies and the highest level at which people ended their studies and at which they obtained a diploma will be followed, focusing on the different performances of men and women. Based on the census microdata available since 1961, the characteristics of the outflow of the Belgian educational system can be reconstructed for most of the twentieth century.
S. Groenez noticed earlier that the expansion started earlier for men than for women, which implies that the expansion of education started off by increasing gender inequality, rather than reducing it 10.ĤThe focus of this article is on gender inequality in education in Belgium throughout the twentieth century. However, there are indications that the expansion of education did not bring a continuous reduction of gender inequalities. Scholars now refer to the boys’ problem rather than the girls’ problem 9. As a result, it is no longer the relative absence of girls in schools that causes concern, but rather the poorer performances of boys. The outcome of that process is that women have not only made up their arrears but have even picked up a lead on men 8. In the past half century, the expansion of education proceeded more swiftly among women than among men.
Earlier studies have mainly focused on the effect of educational expansion on social or regional inequality 2. Inequality in education can manifest itself in different ways. The question remains whether different groups within the population experienced that expansion in different ways, and whether the educational expansion has reduced or enlarged the initial inequalities in education. 3 M. Elchardus et al., 1991 M. Elchardus & M. Huysseune, 2000 R. Janssens, 2003 K. Roggeman, 200 (.)ġIn the course of the twentieth century, there was a sizable expansion in the educational level of the Belgian population, as more people gained access to higher levels of education 1.
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