The impact of gender inequality in education on long-run economic growth

Through the use of cross-country and panel regressions, this thesis will study the impact of gender inequality in educational attainment on long-run economic growth; whether gender inequality in education restricts economic growth. Regressions will be run for 56 different countries across seven different regions (including developing and developed economies), over a 40-year period between 1970 and 2010. The purpose of this study is to provide updated results on gender inequality in education and economic growth, as previous literature has provided results that only account for a time frame up to the year 2000. Both the cross-country and panel results of this study suggest that gender gaps in education impede economic growth; thus, an increase in gender equality aids economic growth and development. The regions with the highest levels of gender inequality are the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, and thus these regions suffer the most, taking longer to close their gender gaps than other regions. Further, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa also experience the slowest economic growth due to their higher levels of gender inequality in education.