One is the expansion and feminization of lower-level jobs in the service sector. The other is the growing number of high-level jobs obtained by women as a result of educational achievement. The reasons include ingrained discrimination and the declining demand for these types of jobs in many economies. Where recruitment is based on educational attainment and abilities, women have proved more than capable of competing with men. The introduction of objective competitions has been a major factor in increasing women's representation in the public sphere in these countries.
Women however earn less than men at every level of education, according to the report.
The loss of jobs and falling wages for men in the manufacturing sector represent the darker side of that equation. Access to better jobs, education and training help women to maintain continuity of employment. Germany and the Scandinavian countries, where formal apprenticeship training is well developed, are thus thought to offer better protection to women seeking re-employment than, for example, the United Kingdom or the United States where training and skills formation tend to be informal. Access to education and vocational training School and post-secondary enrolment rates for girls and women have risen in almost all countries in recent decades, though important disparities persist. But in Africa, South Asia and a few countries in other regions, very high rates of illiteracy among women still prevail.