Comparing Gender Diversity in the Process of Higher-Education Expansion in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the UK for SDG 5

Ensuring equal access to affordable higher education for women and men has become a crucial target of the UN’s SDG 5, while gender disparity persists in various systems. This study employed per capita GDP, the gross enrollment ratio (GER), and the gender parity index (GPI) to demonstrate how higher-education systems have expanded, resulting in the transformation of gender parity. We selected Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the UK as research targets, using both cross correlation functions and trend analyses to compare the progress of higher-education systems. Considering the economic factor impacting higher-education expansion, this study found that the series of per capita GDP impacted the GERs in emerging economies, for example, Korea and Taiwan. Both the growth of per capita GDP and the extension of the GERs changed the patterns of the GPIs. The gap in gender diversity was found to be diminishing in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, while the UK could be a unique case, in that females have become a critical mass in higher education. The results of the comparison suggested that gender disparity is likely to continue in Japan, Korea, and the UK in the future. The framework for monitoring gender parity progress is not limited to high-participation higher-education systems, and it can be extended to tackle similar issues in middle- or lower-income regions.