Religion and Education Around the World

NUMBERS, FACTS AND TRENDS SHAPING THE WORLD

FOR RELEASE DEC. 13, 2016

Religion and Education

Around the World

Large gaps in education levels persist, but all faiths are making

gains ¨C particularly among women

FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES:

Alan Cooperman, Director of Religion Research

Conrad Hackett, Associate Director of Research

and Senior Demographer

Anna Schiller, Communications Manager

202.419.4372



RECOMMENDED CITATION: Pew Research Center, Dec. 13, 2016, ¡°Religion and Education Around the World¡±

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RELIGION AND EDUCATION AROUND THE WORLD

About Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes

and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts

public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social

science research. It studies U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and

technology; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes and trends; and U.S. social

and demographic trends. All of the Center¡¯s reports are available at . Pew

Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.

This report was produced by Pew Research Center as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious

Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world.

Funding for the Global Religious Futures project comes from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the

John Templeton Foundation.

? Pew Research Center 2016

ISBN 978-0-9974190-1-6



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PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Acknowledgments

This report was produced by Pew Research Center as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious

Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world.

Funding for the Global Religious Futures project comes from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the

John Templeton Foundation.

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals.

Primary Researchers

Conrad Hackett, Associate Director of Research and Senior Demographer

David McClendon, Research Associate

Michaela Potan?okov¨¢, Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, VID/OEAW, WU)

Marcin Stonawski, Project Leader, Religion-Education-Demography Project, International

Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); Researcher, Department of Sociology and

Human Geography, University of Oslo

Collaborating Researcher

Vegard Skirbekk, Professor, Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University; Senior Researcher,

Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Research Team

Alan Cooperman, Director of Religion Research

Anne Fengyan Shi, Research Associate

Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa, Data Manager

Kyle Taylor, Research Assistant

Becka A. Alper, Research Associate

Elizabeth Podrebarac Sciupac, Research Associate

Caryle Murphy, Senior Writer/Editor

Stephanie Kramer, Research Associate

Landon Schnabel, Research Associate

Rachel Bacon, Summer Intern

Claire Gecewicz, Research Assistant

Editorial and Graphic Design

Sandra Stencel, Associate Director, Editorial

Diana Yoo, Art Director

Aleksandra Sandstrom, Copy Editor

Michael Lipka, Senior Editor

Bill Webster, Information Graphics Designer



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RELIGION AND EDUCATION AROUND THE WORLD

Communications and Web Publishing

Stacy Rosenberg, Digital Project Manager

Anna Schiller, Communications Manager

Stefan S. Cornibert, Communications Associate

Travis Mitchell, Digital Producer

Danielle Alberti, Web Developer

Andrea Caumont, Social Media Editor

Others at Pew Research Center who gave valuable feedback on this report include Vice President

Claudia Deane, Senior Researcher Besheer Mohamed, Senior Researcher Richard Fry, Senior

Researcher Jacob Poushter and Research Associate Phillip Connor.

Pew Research Center received helpful advice and feedback on this report from Melina Platas, New

York University Abu Dhabi Assistant Professor of Political Science; Robert Woodberry, Research

Associate Professor, Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion; Nicolette Manglos-Weber,

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Kansas State University; Robert Launay, Professor of

Anthropology, Northwestern University; Steven M. Cohen, Research Professor of Jewish Social

Policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; and Phil Zuckerman, Professor of

Sociology and Secular Studies at Pitzer College.

While the analysis was guided by our consultations with the advisers, Pew Research Center is

solely responsible for the interpretation and reporting of the data.



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PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

2

Overview

5

1. Muslim educational attainment

22

Sidebar: Education levels vary among Muslims in Europe

25

Sidebar: In sub-Saharan Africa, Muslim gender gap in education remains as Muslim-Christian

attainment gap has grown

32

Sidebar: Youngest Gulf Muslim women surge ahead in higher education

2. Christian educational attainment

39

40

Sidebar: Christian educational diversity in sub-Saharan Africa

48

Sidebar: Europe¡¯s gender reversal in higher education

54

3. Educational attainment among the religiously unaffiliated

55

Sidebar: Does more education lead to less religion?

58

Sidebar: Educational change in China and the rest of Asia and the Pacific

67

4. Buddhist educational attainment

73

Sidebar: Buddhist diversity in higher education in Asia and the Pacific

5. Hindu educational attainment

85

87

Sidebar: In India, religious differences in acquiring formal education have narrowed but remain

large

85

6. Jewish educational attainment

100

Sidebar: Education gap between Israeli Jews and Muslims is large but narrowing

107

Sidebar: Behind the decline in higher education among Jewish men in the United States

114

7. How religion may affect educational attainment: scholarly theories and historical

background

115

Appendix A: Methodology

132

Appendix B: Data sources by country

142

Appendix C: Mean years of schooling by country, religion and gender

151



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