This is the generation of women with the greatest access to education in history. In 2019, more than half of those graduating from higher education were female, and enrollment has continued to grow at the world's universities for 25 years, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Currently, in Mexico, of the 5.1 million higher education students, 2.7 million are women . And of the 437,965 graduate students, 250,652 are women , according to the Ministry of Public Education ( SEP ).
However, the so-called female advantage
has proven to be a mirage, warn researchers, gender studies experts, and United Nations agencies. Their educational successes, they assert, have not translated into socioeconomic achievements or solid progress toward gender equality in various spheres, including universities themselves.
UNESCO notes that gender segregation is still considerable in academia and higher education institutions, with only 30 percent of researchers worldwide being women. Furthermore, they are underrepresented in university teaching, representing 52 percent of enrollment but less than half of the professorships (45 percent). If this trend continues, it will allow female professors at these institutions to achieve gender parity by 2045.
When it comes to leadership positions, less than a third of rectorships or directorships at research centers are assigned to women, the international organization documents. It highlights that regionally, only 18 percent of Latin American public universities in nine countries have female rectors.
In Mexico, of the 216 higher education institutions—public and private—affiliated with the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (Anuies), less than 15 percent are headed by women, and of the 16 members of the organization's National Council, which brings together the country's largest and most prestigious universities, only four are female rectors.
In its study The Representation of Women in Academia and Higher Education Management , published in 2023, UNESCO highlights that unequal access to positions of power in academia begins at the doctorate level.
While women maintain an advantage over men in entering and exiting higher education, when analyzing their access to graduate school, there is a substantial drop in enrollment, which is reflected in their access to academia and research.
