Education leaders worldwide have emphasised the importance of enhanced data to propel gender equality in learning forward. At UNESCO’s inaugural Conference on Education Data and Statistics in Paris in February 2024, attendees, including UN officials, government representatives, academics, and nonprofit experts, deliberated on strategies for leveraging data to address disparities.

UNESCO highlighted the pivotal role of high-quality and timely data in policymaking and strategic interventions aimed at advancing gender equality in education.

By identifying and analyzing gendered patterns and trends, countries can better allocate resources and plan interventions effectively. Participants underscored the significance of disaggregated, intersectional data in tackling gender disparities in education.

However, many countries face resource constraints in generating such data. Justine Sass, UNESCO’s chief of section for education for inclusion and gender equality, stressed the need for sex-disaggregated data that offer granularity and comparability across various levels.

Despite indicators under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 considering gender dimensions, Manos Antoninis, director of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report, highlighted methodological flaws, noting the lack of disaggregation by intersecting characteristics, which could lead to misleading information.

To address these challenges, Elaine Unterhalter, a professor at University College London’s Institute of Education, encouraged the integration of diverse information sources for a comprehensive understanding of gender dynamics in education.

Antoninis underscored the necessity of comparable data, ideally collected by countries, although variations in data collection methods pose challenges, exacerbated by limited resources and capacity in many nations.

UNESCO’s findings revealed that the equity indicator under Sustainable Development Goal 4 was among the least reported, with lack of data cited by nearly a third of countries.

Antoninis highlighted the need for financial and technical support to strengthen data collection and monitoring systems, ensuring effective progress tracking.