The proportion of tertiary education graduates in the EU27 has increased more for women than for men through the generations. In the oldest age group, a higher proportion of men than women had completed tertiary education (21% for men and 18% for women); in the middle age group proportions were nearly equal (24% for men and 25% for women); and in the youngest age group a higher proportion of women than men had completed tertiary education (26% for men and 34% for women).
In connection with the Bologna Ministerial Conference in Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium on 28-29 April, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities issues a report "The Bologna Process in Higher Education in Europe – Key indicators on the social dimension and mobility". This News Release presents a selection of indicators on higher education, taken from this report.
A strong influence of the educational background of the parents
The educational background of parents has a clear influence on the level of education of their children. In the EU25 in 2005, 17% of those aged 25-64 whose parents had at most completed lower-secondary education had completed tertiary education. This proportion rose to 32% for those whose parents had completed upper-secondary education and reached 63% for those whose parents had themselves completed tertiary education.
In the youngest generation, the impact of the educational level of the parents remains significant even if the impact was reduced for those whose parents had low education. In the age group 25-34, 23% of those whose parents had low education had completed tertiary education, 30% of those whose parents had medium education and 61% of those whose parents had high education.
Highest share of foreign students in the United Kingdom, Austria, France and Belgium
Mobility of students is one of the goals of the Bologna Process. In 2006, 7.5% of students enrolled in tertiary education in the EU27 were foreign students, compared with 5.3% in 2000. The proportion of foreign students rose between 2000 and 2006 in all Member States except Latvia, Romania and Slovakia. The proportion of foreign students in 2006 was higher than 10% in the United Kingdom (18.3%), Austria (15.6%), France (14.6%), Belgium (14.3%), Germany and Sweden (both 12.8%), and less than 1% in Poland (0.5%), Lithuania (0.8%) and Slovakia (0.9%).
In 2006, 2.6% of students originating from one of the EU27 Member States were enrolled in tertiary education in a European country other than their country of origin, compared with 2.1% in 2000. The highest rates in 2006 were observed in Cyprus (78.7%), Malta (10.6%), Slovakia (9.5%) and Bulgaria (8.9%). The lowest rates were registered in the United Kingdom (0.5%), Spain (1.2%), Italy and Hungary (both 1.3%) and Poland (1.4%).
