The Role of Women's Education in the Modern Nation-State

The authors examine the history of women’s education and the rise of the modern nation-state. The paper seeks to correlate advances in women’s education to the rising status of nations within the global state system. It does this through a historical and a cross-sectional analysis of women’s education and national rankings in terms of such indicators as GDP, public health, rates of crime, technological innovation and government stability. The authors argue that the ability of a nation to compete within the global system is directly tied the educational attainment of its female population. We also put forth strategies that may be used to increase a government’s willingness to invest in the education of its female population.