Introduction

Women have historically lagged behind their male counterparts in educational attainment. This gender gap in education has produced greater gender disparities on a host of social and economic indicators. Not only does the gender gap in education generate big differences in employability and wages for men and women but also affects a number of “non-market” outcomes as well. As Schultz and McMahon have shown, the benefits stemming from greater education show up in the form of reduced family size, improved health status, and better childcare, as well as increased political awareness and efficiency in home production.

These concerns are recognized by the Indian government, as the recent beti bachao, beti padhao (save the girl child, educate the girl child) campaign shows. Indeed, data have consistently shown major economic benefits in educating females. P. Duraisamy, for instance, in his comparison of prevailing Indian education trends in the decade of 1983–1994 shows how investment in women's education generates higher economic returns, particularly at the middle, lower-secondary, and higher-secondary levels.

The hard work has paid off. Existing data show that females have largely caught up to men in educational attainment and, in the case of Delhi, surpassed them. According to the census, the proportion of females in higher education has been increasing consistently over time—from 13 girls enrolled for every 100 boys in 1950 to 58 girls for every 100 boys in 2000–2001 and finally to 88 girls for every 100 boys in 2016–2017. Table 10.1 describes this convergence of girls in education using the current gross enrollment ratio (GER) measured in percentage for boys and girls at different levels of education at an all-India level versus the capital region of Delhi.

While the GER has been increasing at the secondary level, higher-secondary level and in higher education across India, Delhi fares unusually well when compared to India as a whole—girls have higher enrollment ratios than boys at all levels of education. Yet these educational gains have not translated into jobs for women. In fact, things have gone in the other direction. A report by the International Labor Organization shows that female labor force participation in India dropped from 35 percent in 1990 to 27 percent in 2014. The gender gap in labor force participation in 2014 was 53 percentage points, which is among the biggest gender gaps in the world.