PARIS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of students enrolled in higher education worldwide has more than doubled over the past two decades, but major geographical and gender inequalities persist, according to UNESCO's first Higher Education Global Trends Report published on Tuesday.
The report, based on new data from 146 countries, shows that global enrollment in higher education rose from about 100 million in 2000 to 269 million in 2024.
However, this growth masks sharp regional disparities: in Western Europe and North America, 80 percent of young people are enrolled in higher education, compared with 9 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, only 3 percent of students worldwide go abroad for higher education.
Women also remain underrepresented at the doctoral level and hold only about one quarter of leadership positions in academia, the report said.
The lack of complete and verifiable documents proving qualifications also poses a major barrier to refugees' access to higher education, particularly in Global South countries, the report added.
To address this issue, UNESCO has introduced the Qualifications Passport, a tool designed to help recognize the academic, professional and vocational qualifications of refugees and forcibly displaced people, according to the report.
