The chart focuses on the number of men and women in further education in Britain. To break it down, we must initially look at the growth in both genders.
First of all, it seems that both men and women opt for part-time education. Beginning in 1970, fewer males pursued their studies this way, the numbers decreasing severely from 1,000,000 to about 830,000 in just 10 years. In the next decade, the numbers grew to just over 850,000 men. On the other hand, in 1970, more than 650,000 women continued their education part-time, over the next 20 years the digits almost doubling.
Nonetheless, starting in the year 1970, full-time education among men escalated clearly, from roughly 100,000 students to about 220,000 in the span of 20 years. This sudden spurt is observable in the women’s field as well, beginning with a low number of just under 40,000 individuals to reaching about 230,000.
Therefore, part-time education is more popular than full-time education because it is less consuming and more accessible. However, over time, there has been a steady increase in the number of women in both part-time and full-time education, reflecting a narrowing gender gap in further education by the early 1990s.