International evidence on the gender gap in education over the past six decades: A puzzle and an answer to it

This paper presents novel worldwide evidence on the evolution of the gender gap in education over the past six decades. In every region of the world, I find that the gender gap increases from 1950 to 1975 and then decreases from 1975 to 2005. This path creates a puzzle since the existing explanations for the post- 1975 boom in the higher education of women are not fully consistent with this evidence. To solve this puzzle, I highlight the missing element in the literature: the different nature of the forces behind the increases in the demand for education in the two periods.