AI could help narrow graduate gender employment gap – OECD

Women still struggle to translate their academic success into job opportunities, but artificial intelligence could help narrow the employment gap, according to a new report.

Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that women are much more likely to enter tertiary education than men and typically score higher in assessments, grade repetition rates and completion rates.

However, the annual Education at a Glance report warns that this does not translate into equivalent labour market opportunities across its 38 member countries, where women face “significant disadvantages”.

Gender employment rates narrow as educational attainment increases, but the gap persists beyond higher education. Among young women with a tertiary qualification, 84 per cent are employed, which is 6 percentage points below the rate for similarly qualified men.

Personal and family responsibilities, including unpaid care work, often disproportionately affect women and “traditional gender roles” hold them back from searching for employment or being available to work at short notice, warned the report.

Andreas Schleicher, OECD director for education and skills, said: "Institutions of higher education have an important role to play in building the aspirations of women to succeed in the labour market, including in traditionally male-dominated industries."

He told Times Higher Education that career guidance, work placements and other vocational training can help to create more pathways for women into the world of work, while facilitated support to recognising and overcoming gender bias can help to promote female participation in the workforce.

On average across OECD countries, tertiary-educated young women working full-time earn 83 per cent of what their male peers earn.

“Foreign-born women face a dual challenge in the labour market as immigrants and as women, regardless of their level of educational attainment,” it adds.

The OECD found that the gender gap in employment rates is 5 percentage points among native-born tertiary-educated adults but is 13 percentage points for those born outside the country of residence.

But the gender gap for employment rates among 25- to 34-year-olds with at least a bachelor’s degree does appear to be shrinking across many parts of the OECD. It fell by at least 10 percentage points in Estonia, Hungary and Slovakia between 2016 and 2023, while women in Greece and Portugal now have similar employment rates to men.

“In addition to evolving cultural norms, women’s advantages in social and interpersonal skills may have played some role in the narrowing of gender gaps in employment rates, particularly among those with higher levels of educational attainment,” the report says.

“This trend is likely to continue in the age of AI, as social skills are often complementary to AI skills.”

The OECD says that while AI has created fears of job losses in many sectors, adults with higher educational attainment are more likely to be able to adapt to the shift in skills needed.

While tertiary education improves job prospects, the OECD report also found that countries with the largest share of tertiary graduates do not always have the highest employment rates.

“This highlights the need for better collaboration between the education sector and the labour market, to prevent an oversupply of graduates in certain fields,” the report says.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com