The Rising Education Levels of Females in Australia

There have been significant increases in female participation in secondary and higher education in Australia over the past 39 years. To account for these changes, models of educational attainment were estimated for all individuals as well as for females from different age groups.The results reveal that family-related characteristics play a major role in the education decision. There is evidence of cohort effects in the process determining female educational attainment. The results suggest that changes in female educational attainment may be linked to the Equal Pay for Equal Work and Equal Pay for Work of EqualValue decisions of 1969 and 1972, respectively.