Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

 Demographic Yearbook - Uzbekistan 2017.
tashkent. Uzbekistan.
230 
the State Committee on Statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
 
2016. 
Women and Men of Uzbekistan. 
tashkent. 
Uzbekistan.

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Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment Update
tashkent, Samarkand, and andijan.
231 
the costs of accommodation and transportation to a 
higher educational institution might also reduce opportunities for both young men and women.
In Uzbekistan, higher education is mostly fee-based. due to high tuition costs, families 
might give preference to sons over daughters. traditionally, daughters marry and move to 
their husband’s family, so any investment in a daughter’s education is unlikely to benefit her 
own family. However, many middle-income families continue to pay their daughters’ higher 
education costs after marriage because grooms’ families are often reluctant to cover a bride’s 
tuition cost. additionally, the age of admission at universities coincides with the most frequent 
marriage age for girls (18–19 years) and marriage might be prioritized over higher education 
for young girls in situations where a choice is to be made between pursuing higher education 
and getting married. Young girls-college graduates are unlikely to enter university the following 
year in case of failure. Finally, women’s education is affected by their reproductive function: 
women in their twenties have the highest rate of childbirth in Uzbekistan.
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However, growing 
awareness of the value of education is changing families’ attitudes. Brides who complete 
higher education are in more demand in urban and rural households because of their increased 
potential for contributing to the family budget.
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Gender asymmetry in higher education is also explicit regarding areas of study. Young women 
usually pursue schooling in health, education, and other traditionally female areas, whereas 
young men dominate in transport and communications, engineering, construction, and other 
technical fields. Jobs related to technical fields typically pay more than occupations in fields 
considered as traditionally female areas.
In 2006–2013, the portion of female and male tertiary students in engineering, manufacturing, 
and construction was 4.5% vs. 27.2%, respectively, and 10.1% vs. 5.5%, respectively in sciences.
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In comparison with the above UN Women data, a 2016 World Bank study( based on data from 
the State Committee on Statistics) reported that women’s participation in higher education 
showed little progress according areas of study: 56% in education and culture, 40% in health 
care and physical training; 23% in agriculture; 20% in economics and law; and less than 15% in 
communication, construction, and transportation.
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Starting with the 2017–2018 academic year, the State Committee on Statistics plans to add sex-
disaggregation to the enrollment data in higher education, sorted according to area of study.
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Some causes of gender asymmetry by economic sector include traditional stereotypes for 
women’s social roles in the family and society, lack of national and sector policies, and lack of 
support in promoting women’s participation in the traditionally nonfemale sectors of education 
231 
UN Food and agriculture Organization. 2017. 
Gender, Livelihoods and Forestry.
Socio-economic and Gender Analysis in the 
Forestry Sector in Uzbekistan
. p.12 in press).
232 
demographic Institute under the University Higher School of economics. Russian Federation. 2014. demoscope 
Weekly. L.a. tzhai 
On fertility issues in Uzbekistan
 http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2014/0617/analit02.php
233 
adB field survey in 2017 in preparation for this CGa update.
234 
United Nations entity for Gender equality and the empowerment of Women. 2016.