The 19 countries with the highest ratio of women to men in higher education

Education is one of the crucial factors in ensuring the gap between the genders closes as fast as possible

There are more than 100 countries in the world where women outnumber men in tertiary education (Getty Images)

The World Economic Forumreleased its annual Global Gender Gap index on Wednesday.

One of the crucial factors in ensuring that the gap between the genders closes as fast as possible is education.

So we took a look at the countries where women are more likely to go into tertiary education and are better educated than men.

Tertiary education is anything taken on after school. This includes university, vocational training, and military service.

There are more than 100 countries in the world where women outnumber men in tertiary education, but we've decided to take a look at the states where women enjoy the biggest advantage over their male classmates. The ranking is calculated by looking at the nations surveyed by WEF who have the highest female to male ratio.

19. PANAMA — 53% of women in the country go into tertiary education. Compare that to just 34% of men, and you can see why Panamanian women have a big advantage over their male counterparts.

18. ARGENTINA — A massive 98% of Argentine women have some form of tertiary education, more than one and a half times the number of men. The country also ranked very highly in the WEF's female political power rankings.

17. SRI LANKA — The WEF listed Sri Lanka as the 84th most gender equal country, but its education system ranked much higher. While only 23% of women enter further education, they are far better educated than men, outnumbering them by 1.6 to 1 in tertiary education institutions.

16. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC — The first of many Caribbean nations where women are better educated than men. 57% of ladies in the Dominican Republic go into tertiary education, compared to just 36% of men.

15. KYRGYZSTAN — The Central Asian republic may not be one of the world's most well known countries, but proportionally speaking its women are some of the best educated in the world. The ratio of women-to-men in tertiary education is 1.61.

14. TUNISIA — Fewer than half of female Tunisians, just 42%, go into tertiary education, but the ratio of women continuing schooling compared to men is 1.62.

13. CUBA — 60% of female Cubans continue their education once school is over in the most populous state in the Caribbean.

12. BELIZE — Another nation with a small population where women are far better educated than men. Women outnumber men by 1.68 times in tertiary education.

11. VENEZUELA — Venezuela's economy may be struggling, with people unable to afford toilet paper, but a huge proportion of its female citizens go into tertiary education – a cumulative 99%, compared to 58% of men.

10. SURINAME — A pretty small number of women, just 15%, go into higher education in the former Dutch colony, but this is way higher than the 9% of men who do.

9. ICELAND — As well as topping the WEF's overall Gender Gap Index, Icelandic women are also some of the best educated on the planet, and outnumber men by 1.72 to one in further education.

8. URUGUAY — 80% of all women in Uruguay go into further education, a ratio of 1.73.

7. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM — Brunei is often cited as one of the wealthiest countries on earth, but it also has some of the best educated female citizens. They outnumber their male counterparts 33% to 18% in tertiary education institutions.

6. GUYANA — Guyana has relatively low levels of education for both sexes, and only 18% of females go into further or higher education. But that's still more than twice the number of men continuing their education after school.

5. BAHRAIN — Women in the island nation in the Arabian Gulf are far better educated than men in their country. The ratio of women to men going into tertiary education is 2.18.

4. KUWAIT — Another middle eastern nation where women have a better education than men. 41% of Kuwaiti females attend tertiary education institutions, compared to just 18% of men.

3. JAMAICA — Around 40% of Jamaican women go into tertiary education, 2.29 times more than the number of men going to universities and colleges.

2. BARBADOS — A huge 88% of Barbadian women are in higher or further education, outnumbering men by nearly two and a half times. The Caribbean nation has two universities despite having a population of less than 300,000.

1. QATAR — Qatar officially has a higher proportion of female students than anywhere else on earth. The ratio of women to men is a staggering 6.66, even though just 44% of women are in further education.

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