Large gaps in education levels persist, but all faiths are making gains – particularly among women, according to a new research released this week by the Pew Research Center.
“Jews are more highly educated than any other major religious group around the world, while Muslims and Hindus tend to have the fewest years of formal schooling, according to a Pew Research Center global demographic study that shows wide disparities in average educational levels among religious groups” says the report.
Socio-economic factors within the areas of largest concentration for the different faiths is certainly a part of the cause, says the report, but does not tell all the story.
“These gaps in educational attainment are partly a function of where religious groups are concentrated throughout the world. For instance, the vast majority of the world’s Jews live in the United States and Israel – two economically developed countries with high levels of education overall. And low levels of attainment among Hindus reflect the fact that 98% of Hindu adults live in the developing countries of India, Nepal and Bangladesh.”
The report also finds that the number of years of schooling received by the average adult in allthe religious groups studied has been rising in recent decades, with the greatest overall gains made by the groups that had lagged furthest behind.
See the full report here
