Women do better than men in education but don't get enough salaried jobs

The number of women in stable and salaried positions is shrinking; they are becoming dependent on informal work

“Girls outshine boys” say news headlines when school exam results come out. But excellence in school and college education is not leading to enough salaried jobs for women.

 

Even as they gain greater access to higher studies, women often face systemic barriers when entering the labour market. That results in fewer stable, well-paid jobs and limited opportunities for career advancement, according to an analysis of data in ‘The Global Gender Gap Report 2025’, which was released by the World Economic Forum this month.

 

India ranks 131st among 148 countries in the Gender Gap Index, slipping two places from 2024. Girls in India consistently outperform boys in school. Data from the Central Board of Secondary Education shows that girls have higher pass percentages than boys in Class 10 and 12 exams. 

 

From 2014 to 2025, girls have outshone boys in both 10th and 12th grades. The pass rates for girls were 92 per cent to 99 per cent for 10th grade and 85 per cent to 99 per cent for 12th grade, consistently higher than boys’.

 

Women did better in higher education enrolment, too. The gross enrollment ratio (GER) of women exceeded that of men for most years between 2017-18 and 2021-22. 

 

Female GER in higher education in 2021-22 was 28.5 per cent, surpassing male GER of 28.3 per cent — a notable reversal of historic trends 

Yet, despite their strong educational performance, women are marginalised in salaried employment. According to data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the share of women in salaried jobs (urban and rural) is much lower than men and it has declined over the years: from 21 per cent in 2017-18 to 15.9 per cent in 2023-24. 

PLFS categorises more than two out of every three working women as self-employed: a cohort that has increased to 67.4 per cent in 2023-24 from 51.9 per cent in 2017-18. It means the number of women in stable and salaried positions is shrinking and that is leading to increased dependency on precarious, informal work.

 

 

Moreover, a glance at income levels for 2023-24 reveals even deeper disparities. When they move away from salaried work, women pay a far higher economic price than men. While the average monthly income of a salaried male worker was just 11 per cent higher than that of a self-employed male in urban areas, the difference for women was a staggering 132 per cent. Salaried women earned Rs 19,709 on average — nearly twice that of a self-employed woman.