The gender gap in education is prevalent, demonstrating that young women often achieve better outcomes than young men in both school and professional training. This “Gender Education Gap,” as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), is evident in various areas, including school qualifications and university graduation rates.
In the 2024 academic year, among the 258,300 graduates with a General Higher Education Qualification from general schools, women accounted for 55 percent, while men made up 45 percent. However, the gender ratio reverses as the level of formal education decreases. Among the 133,100 graduates with only a Primary School Certificate, men constituted 59 percent, against 41 percent for women. A Secondary School Certificate, typically obtained at the end of the ninth grade, is a general education qualification, while the Intermediate School Certificate, usually awarded at the end of the tenth grade, accounted for 344,200 graduates, comprising 51 percent men and 49 percent women.
Differences are also noted among students who repeat a grade. For the 2024/2025 school year, 148,100 students repeated a grade, with 56 percent being male and 44 percent being female.
Young men are more inclined to finish school relatively early and frequently do not enter vocational or advanced training afterward. In 2025, fifteen percent of men aged 18 to 24 lacked a completed professional qualification, possessing either only a Primary or Intermediate School Certificate, and were not involved in training. This figure was eleven percent for women in the same age group.
The disparity between the sexes has widened in recent years. Ten years ago, the rate among both men and women was ten percent. This trend is partially attributed to the increased share of the foreign population in this age group, which has risen from twelve percent to 17 percent. Young people in this population group are more often not enrolled in school, vocational, or advanced training. In 2025, about a third (34 percent) of young foreign men lacked a completed professional qualification, possessed only a Primary or Intermediate School Certificate, and were not in training. Ten years ago, this figure was closer to a quarter (24 percent). Among foreign women in the age group, the proportion is lower and has risen moderately over the same period, from 22 percent to 26 percent.
In higher education, female students complete their Bachelor’s degrees more successfully and quickly than their male counterparts. Among students who started in 2020, 34 percent of female undergraduates finished their Bachelor’s degree within eight semesters, compared to 25 percent of men. A similar trend was observed in Master’s programs, where the graduation rate for female starters in 2020 was 53 percent after six semesters, slightly higher than that of male students (48 percent), though the gap between sexes was less pronounced than in Bachelor studies.
For programs leading to state examinations, the graduation rate is also higher among women. Considering the longer standard study time, successful completions are measured after twelve semesters. Thirty-five percent of female students who began their studies in 2018 obtained their state qualification within twelve semesters, compared to 24 percent of men.
