Gender, Jobs and Education: Prospects and Realities in Nepal is part of the series of studies
undertaken in Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal and Vietnam. Consolidating all the
country studies, UNESCO Bangkok has published a synthesis report entitled ‘Gender, Jobs
and Education: Prospects and Realities in the Asia-Pacific’. In Nepal, as in other participating
countries, an empirical study was undertaken in 2013 to understand the relationship between
Nepal’s labour market and the education system. Major lens used to see this relationship was
gender. This report focuses on the involvement women and men participating in education
and the labour market,Nepal’s education system; and female and male students’ perceptions
about suitability of different occupations. The report then analyzes the relationship between
different dimensions of education and the labour market. The study was conducted among
319 (158 female, 161 male) grade 10 students and 470 women and men engaged in different
occupations. Research was conducted in 8 districts including Kathmandu Valley.
Nepali women’s participation in education, the labour market, governance and politics has
increased over a period a time. Women are gradually entering into occupations that are
perceived to be suitable for men only. The political changes and deliberate effort made by the
government and non-government sectors have largely contributed to this positive change.
However progress is unevenly distributed among caste, ethnicities and locations.
The review showed that the labour force participation rate of women and men aged 5 years
and above is almost equal. Among the employed population, there are more women than
men. However among the 15 years and above population, male employment ratio is 7%
points higher than the women employment ratio. The number of unpaid women workers is
higher than unpaid male workers. A positive connection between educational attainment
and employment is quite visible as the education data shows progress in female education,
particularly,at school level. However at the tertiary level, female participation decreases.