On 30 October, EPALE hosted an online discussion addressing the current trends and future challenges in gender equality in adult learning; the discussion helped put gender issues into the adult learning perspective: how are cross-sector and sector-specific issues interrelated? Is adult education ready to be a driver for change?

Two experts provided insightful contributions: Sylvia Liuti, Gender equality expert, Director of Internationalisation and EU projects management at FORMA.Azione and Honorary Member of the Gender Equality Task Force by EAEA-EfVET-EARLALL, and Piotr Sadowski, Secretary General of Volonteurope, Vice-President of the Conference of INGOs in the Council of Europe and Former President of the Social Platform; the discussion was moderated by Andrea Lapegna, Deputy Director of the Lifelong Learning Platform.

The landscape of gender equality in education: a complex picture

Across the EU, the Gender Equality Index 2023 reveals a mixed picture, with progress in some areas but persistent challenges in others. The overall gender equality score has modestly improved, surpassing 70 points for the first time, primarily driven by gains in the domains of power and time. However, significant gaps remain, particularly in sectors like STEM, energy, and transport, where gender segregation is stark. For example, while Sweden leads with a high Gender Equality Index score (82.2), achieving near parity in education and employment participation, countries like Romania and Hungary struggle, scoring below 60 points. This disparity underscores the uneven progress across Member States.

Admittedly, we see a lot of gender-based inequalities in education and adult education. This is true both for vertical discrimination - i.e. less women than men in positions of decision-makers - but also in the so-called horizontal discrimination - i.e. inequalities sector by sector. As a token of example, women are many more than men among education, health and work graduates, while they only account for 13% of graduates in STEM VET (European Institute for Gender Equality). As Sylvia Liuti put it, we not only need to ask ourselves why women are fewer than men in the so-called technical fields, but also why men do not choose education or health professional education.  

An outlook on labour market inequalities - and their implications

Gender inequalities extend far beyond participation in learning and deeply affect women’s access to the labour market and work-based learning opportunities. And they have an impact also on the direction of EU policies: both the digital and the green transition are impacted by gender inequalities, which are slowing down the progress towards desidered political objectives. As Sylvia Liuti mentioned, especially in the efforts to digitalise societies women are excluded from learning opportunities on the account of cultural and societal biases. But we should not forget that women do much better than men in transversal skills, which are a cornerstone feature of our efforts to reskill and upskill the workforce - including in men-dominated fields. 

Leveraging on civil society initiatives

One effective approach has been to strengthen gender-responsive budgeting within civil society organisations. This practice ensures that funding allocations and financial planning prioritise gender equity, supporting programmes and policies that empower women in vulnerable social Groups. According to Piotr Sadowski, gender budgeting has been especially influential in addressing structural inequalities within organisations and in the broader community, as seen in initiatives by the European Women’s Lobby. To look at adult education, the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) actively addresses gender disparities in adult education. Through their initiatives, EAEA promotes access to learning opportunities for women, particularly those from marginalised backgrounds, to help bridge educational and workforce gaps. Their background paper on Adult Learning and Gender highlights the need for flexible learning options to accommodate women’s caregiving roles, while promoting lifelong learning as a pathway to economic empowerment and social inclusion.

Experts seemed to agree that we are not quite there yet. And gender-based inequalities in adult learning have a negative spillover effect on virtually all other sectors of our society. But a true lifelong learning, holistic approach to education and training could bear the fruits that will lead to gender equality in adult education. 

Watch or re-watch the video discussion at this link!