Young women in Germany are outperforming their male counterparts at school and university, new figures have revealed.
The Federal Statistical Office said on Thursday that the gender education gap is demonstrated in qualifications for those leaving school and university graduation rates.
In 2024, women accounted for 55% and men for 45% of the 258,300 pupils graduating from general education schools with the Abitur, the general university entrance qualification, it said.
The lower the qualification, the more the gender ratio reverses: Among the 133,100 pupils leaving school with a first school-leaving qualification, which is usually obtained at the end of the ninth grade, 59% were male and 41% were female, according to the figures.
Of the young people who had to repeat a year in 2024-2025, 56% were male and 44% were female, the Wiesbaden-based agency said. Young men were also more likely to leave school relatively early and then not start vocational training or further education.
The picture at universities also shows differences between the sexes. Female students were more likely than male students to successfully complete their bachelor's degree within eight semesters.
Of women who began their studies in 2020, 34% had obtained a degree after eight semesters, compared with 25% of young men.
In master's programmes, the completion rate among women who began in 2020 was also higher after six semesters at 53%, compared with 48% of their male fellow students.