Gender Equity in Access to Higher Education in Mongolia

Mongolia is similar to several other Asian countries in experiencing significant growth in higher education enrollments, in part due to expansion of the private sector. In 2004-2005, 62 percent of Mongolian undergraduates were female, a pattern that has existed since the early 1990s. The study investigates reasons for the lower participation of male students than their female counterparts in Mongolian higher education. It intends to contribute to an understanding of why this gender imbalance persists in Mongolian higher education, especially since in all spheres of life, including politics and business, males predominate in leadership positions. This qualitative study examines what kind of reasons influence the reverse gender balance. Using an inductive model of qualitative analysis design, this investigation considers the human capital theory and socio-economic effects on college choice as a conceptual framework. Forty six respondents were interviewed and the findings of this study were based on analysis of these interviews using the conceptual framework.Four major sets of factors have been found as reasons why the gender imbalance exists in Mongolian higher education, which include cultural, social, economic and institutional factors. Some of the factors are very unique to the Mongolian context while others reflect global trends within the Mongolian context. The findings suggest that most of the reasons for the reverse gender gap in higher education are closely related to the fact that Mongolia went through and still is undergoing major changes caused by the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Prior this transition however, the consequences and structural elements of the socialist period have had impact on gender equity in higher education. On the other hand, some of the reasons for the gender imbalance are related to unique Mongolian traditions and a nomadic lifestyle that Mongolians have lead for centuries. The gender imbalance favoring female enrollment in higher education is a phenomenon also shared with the United States and other countries. Hence, the research contributes to a broader understanding of shifting gender equity patterns in higher education enrollment in the United States and Mongolia as well as around the world