Last Bhadra, the Public Service Commission had published the results of the examination for the branch officer level under the Judicial Service. The results were interesting in many ways. Out of a total of 81 people recommended for appointment by the commission, 60 of the officers were women.

That is, 74 percent were women and 26 percent (21) were men. Of the 3,356 people who applied to appear in the branch officer examination, more than half (1,684) were women. Another interesting fact is that among those recommended in this way, 38 were women in the open category, while only 6 were men. The remaining 15 men were recommended for appointment from the reserved quota (Madheshi, Dalit, Adivasi-Janajati, etc.).

Earlier, out of the 68 officers recommended by the Public Service Commission for the appointment of the Judicial Service, 38 (i.e. 56 percent) were women. What this means is that the success of women in government service (currently the Judicial Service) is not just a coincidence. This indicates a change that can be seen in our public service in the near future.

A changing higher education sector

This change has many dimensions. One of the most important changes is the presence of women in higher education, especially at the undergraduate level. According to the latest government data, in the fiscal year 2080/81, 633,053 students were enrolled in Nepal's higher education. Of these, 274,913 were male and 358,140 were female. In Nepal, the number of males (1,544,855) in the 18-22 age group is higher than that of females (1,455,843). However, when examining the number of students in the same age group, who mostly study at the undergraduate level, the number of female students (326,864) is higher than that of male students (240,474). In other words, for every 10 male students studying in higher education, 13 female students are studying together. This shows that gender parity (gender equality) in higher education (undergraduate level) is increasing in our country. However, a closer look at this data shows that there are slightly more men (32,335) than women (30,714) at the postgraduate level, and this gap is likely to close soon. At the higher level (MPhil/PhD), the number of women (478) is much smaller than that of men (1,957).

Comparing the increasing participation of women in higher education with the data from a decade ago and immediately after the Panchayat period, we can better understand the changes taking place at the grassroots level in Nepal.

According to a government report, the number of students studying at the undergraduate and higher levels in Nepal in the fiscal year 2046/47 was about 33,000. In 2080/81, the number has increased to about 633,000. That is, 19 times more students are currently studying higher education in Nepal than in 2046/47. In addition, about 1.25 million Nepali students go abroad every year for higher education. And, in recent times, it is estimated that about 40 percent of them are women.

It is necessary to analyze the increasing participation of women in higher education in a deeper way. We do not have caste/ethnicity data to analyze which places, which caste/ethnicity women are studying in which subjects and in which colleges. However, since thematic data is available at regional and broad levels, let us take a look at that. Sudurpaschim's leap

When examining female participation in higher education at the provincial level, the number of female students is now higher than that of male students in all provinces. In numerical terms, Bagmati Province has the highest number of students. 44 percent of the students studying in higher education in the country are in this province.

The least number of students study in Karnali Province. When it comes to gender equality in percentage terms, Sudurpaschim Province stands out as the most advanced province—two-thirds (65.3 percent) of the students studying higher education in this province are women. Lumbini Province is also at the same level as Sudurpaschim (64.6 percent). That is, there are about 2 female students for every 1 male student in these two provinces.

The next wave is Koshi (60.6 percent), Gandaki (60.1 percent), Karnali (57.5 percent), and Madhesh Province (53.7). In Bagmati Province, the number of male and female students is almost equal (51.3 female students and 48.7 male students). Bagmati Province lags behind other provinces in terms of gender equality due to the number of students coming to study from other provinces, especially in Kathmandu.

Comparing the increasing participation of women in higher education with the data from a decade ago and immediately after the Panchayat period, we can better understand the changes taking place at the grassroots level in Nepal. When examining the data for 2070/71 BS, gender parity in higher education in Nepal as a whole had reached 1.1—meaning that women had already surpassed men.

A decade ago, the Western Development Region was at the forefront in terms of gender parity in higher education—60 percent female and 40 percent male. The next wave was the Eastern Region, where 53 percent of those studying higher education were female. The number of male and female students was equal in higher education in the Midwest, while in the Midwest and Farwest Development Regions, the male and female enrollments were 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively.

In 2047/48 BS, only about 15 percent of female students were studying higher education in Nepal. In the Farwest and Midwest Development Regions, the enrollment percentage of female students in higher education was only 7 and 14 percent, respectively. Today, 65.3 percent of those studying higher education in the Far West Province are female, and it has leapfrogged all other provinces to reach the first place.

Where and what are women studying?

When examining the colleges where women have studied in higher education, it is seen that the largest proportion is studying in so-called community colleges. More than two-thirds (67 percent) of the students studying in community colleges are female. Since community colleges are comparatively cheaper and locally available, it seems that there are more female students in them.

It is not difficult to assume that in various places, just as sons are educated in boarding schools and daughters in community schools, daughters are still sent to community colleges near their homes and sons are sent to colleges in the cities and markets. However, one change that has been seen recently is that now more female students (52 percent) are studying in private colleges than male students. The number of female students is also slightly higher in private campuses.

In terms of universities, Pokhara, Kathmandu and many other universities have more male students than female students. The number of female students in universities that teach subjects like Sanskrit and Buddhism is very low. In terms of percentage, Sudurpaschim University has the highest number of female students. There, there are two female students for every male student. Similarly, in Madhyapaschim University and Tribhuvan University, there are more female students in higher education than male students.

When examining the subjects that women are studying in higher education, their concentration is seen in the so-called 'general' subjects of education, humanities and social sciences and management. 72 percent of students studying education are female students. This is creating a situation where education is the main subject of choice for women and in the coming days, many teachers will probably teach in our schools. However, the sad thing is that the teaching of education in Nepal is probably the weakest.

After education, the subject with the highest concentration of female students (in terms of percentage) is medicine. The percentage of female students in that subject is about 60 percent—this includes the number of nursing students. The number of female students now exceeds that of male students in MBBS or higher degrees, which was not the case a decade ago. Another subject with a majority of female students is management, in which they constitute 57 percent. Similarly, 54 percent of those studying humanities and social sciences are female.

Male students predominate in subjects like science and technology, forestry, and even engineering. In particular, the presence of female students in engineering is only 25 percent. During the Panchayat period, the number of female students studying engineering was almost zero, and even a decade ago, only 10 percent of women were in higher education in engineering. In the last decade, the number of engineering students has increased by another 15 percent, which is significant. The number of women studying higher education in science and technology is also increasing, and recently this share has reached 40 percent.

Reasons for the change 

When examining the students appearing in the SEE level and Class 12 examinations in terms of gender, the number of male and female students in both has been almost equal in recent years (males are slightly more).  However, the number of female students starts increasing rapidly when they reach the graduation level.  Some of the reasons behind this encouraging progress of women in the field of higher education can be guessed. 

The first and main reason is ‘labor migration’.  Young people of higher education age (18-25) have been going abroad in large numbers in search of work in the last two decades. The majority of them are men (about 80 percent), the number of women is small.  In the last census (2078 BS), the province with the highest number of absentee population (in terms of percentage) was Sudurpaschim.  More than 10 percent of the people here were absent.  This region has the highest number of female students. A decade ago, the Western Region had the highest absentee population, and the percentage of female students was also higher there than in other developing regions.

Another reason for the increase in the number of female students in higher education in Nepal is the preponderance of men in going to study abroad. In addition, it is found that around the world, especially teenage boys, drop out of school for various reasons. A similar trend is starting to be seen in Nepal.

It can be assumed that one of the reasons for the increasing gender equality in higher education in the Far West, Karnali and other provinces is that parents in those regions send their sons to study technical and other 'marketable' subjects in Kathmandu and other regions, and educate their daughters at the local level. That is, female students in rural and western Nepal are starting to have some opportunities to study at the undergraduate level, but in subjects that are not easily 'marketable' in the market, whose level of education (pass rate, etc.) is not good.

The fact that there are few postgraduate education institutions outside Kathmandu, and that MPhil and PhD education are mainly concentrated in Kathmandu, has led to a decrease in the number of female students at these levels. In addition, the fact that women settle down after their undergraduate studies and are unable to continue their higher education due to family problems is also a reason for the low participation of women in higher education. However, these barriers can now be seen to be gradually breaking down.

Finally, the participation of women in Nepal's higher education sector is not a small change. Although such changes have already occurred in other parts of the world (so-called developed countries), the difference between our changes and those there is that the change there was slow and gradual, while here it is happening at a rapid pace.

A closer look at the available data on education reveals that although some aspects of women's increasing educational participation appear problematic (for example, higher female participation in certain subjects, higher proportion of women from certain castes among successful candidates, etc.), the number of women pursuing higher education is steadily increasing compared to men. The mere fact that women's education has been accepted in the lower or middle classes, especially with the exception of Madhesi Dalits, Muslims and some other communities, does not necessarily mean that a situation is being created in Nepal where women will have more educational qualifications than men in the coming days.

Already, when application 'vacancies' open in some government and other sectors, the number of women has started to increase. Reservation is already in place, and since they have passed the open competition in equal numbers (in the above example of the judicial service, even much more), it is changing the 'dynamics' of the offices.

The trend in Nepali society of looking for men with more educational qualifications than women in marriages will soon change. परिवारको पुरुष सदस्यभन्दा महिला सदस्य बढी शैक्षिक योग्यता हासिल गरेको हुने अवस्था निर्माण हुँदै छ । यसले परिवारमा पुरुषको प्रभुत्व कम गरी नेपाली समाजलाई लैंगिक समानतातर्फ डोर्‍याउने अनुमान गर्न सकिन्छ । यो ऐतिहासिक सामाजिक परिवर्तन हो र यसले आउँदा दिनमा नेपाली समाजको सामाजिक संरचनामा नै व्यापक र दूरगामी प्रभाव पार्ने देखिन्छ ।