these observed patterns. For instance, the understanding of Spanish and, perhaps consequently, the Western education that comes with it, as a tool for defending their legal rights and navigating the Hispanic systems may have been a driving force for Aymara men in closing their education gap with nonindigenous men. This is corroborated by the steepness in literacy and primary school completion among Aymara men in older cohorts, as proficiency in written and spoken Spanish can be acquired at early levels of schooling. If men had traditionally represented Aymara against the government and local landlords, there may have been less incentive to increase female education.

Among younger cohorts, various other circumstances may be constraining the education outcomes of Aymara and Quechua women vis-à-vis all other groups. For example, previous literature suggests that school dropout rates especially for girls correlate with a range of factors, including distance, quality of education, early marriage and pregnancy, lack of separate sanitary facilities, son preference and division of labor within households, among others (Hunt 2008). Some of these factors become more binding as girls get older, resulting in wider gender gaps starting at the secondary level. Studies focused on Bolivia also highlight cultural differences across ethnic groups as an important source of the observed gender education gaps (Zapata 2011).

A recent survey conducted among Bolivian women in 2013 offers some additional possible explanations.<sup>17</sup> For example, the survey found that women ended their education, even though they may have wanted to study more, primarily for financial reasons. Around 50 percent of women, both indigenous and nonindigenous, cited the lack of financial resources as the main reason their education stopped, which, combined with the fact that indigenous girls are more likely to be poor than nonindigenous girls, might partly explain why the education of indigenous girls is curtailed to a greater extent (or earlier in education) by financial constraints. Further, Aymara women in the sample were the most likely among all groups to say that their education ended because their family valued the education of boys more, while Aymara and Quechua were both more likely than nonindigenous women to say their education stopped because their families did not allow them to keep studying. Importantly, only 5 percent of women across all groups cited the lack of education services in their area as the main reason for the end of their education (World Bank, forthcoming).

These results may have repercussions for education and labor market outcomes, as well as for agency and wellbeing, as limitations in education carry through to individuals’ opportunities and empowerment. As noted before, education tends to be accumulated early in life, so that gaps in education reflect not only current disadvantages but also penalties paid throughout one’s life and by groups as a whole. Thus, the fact that Aymara women have been particularly disadvantaged relative to their male counterparts and given their place of birth, for instance, also signals the potential disadvantages they face in opportunities as they progress through life. Even as Aymara women have experienced some relative gains in recent years, similar concerns arise for younger

> 17 Though the survey, which covered over 2500 women, is not nationally representative, it provides results that can shed some light on the mechanisms behind the findings presented in this paper. The Perception Survey on Women’s Exclusion and Discrimination explores the perception of indigenous and nonindigenous women’s situation in Bolivia in the areas of education, health and economic opportunities, focusing on discrimination and exclusion. The survey was implemented between December 2013 and February 2014 by the Bolivian nongovernmental organization, _La Coordinadora de la Mujer_ .

21