NEXUS BETWEEN GENDER INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Pakistan’s women educational attainment has been the lowest in the entire South Asia; with women and girls continuing to suffer discrimination in the field of education. This study is designed to examine the linkage between gender disparity in education and Pakistan economic success, using annual secondary data to date range 1980 to 2019. Also the study checked the variables integration order by using Dickey-Fuller and Philip-Peron tests apart from utilizing the ARDL bound test technique for long-run co-integration relationship while the direction of causality were tested by using Granger causality. The analyses reflect that a strong adverse influence on growth was the result to be yielded from gender educational disparity in Pakistan. This finding is based on the empirical interpretation such as women educational attainment at primary and secondary levels, government expenditures on education, total secondary education and male secondary education significantly contribute to growth. However, the associations of population growth, total labor force, male education at primary level and total primary education with growth being significantly negative. This study also found long run pair-wise causality from male and female secondary school attainment separately, male primary education, total primary and total secondary education to economic success.