The European Commissioner responsible for education, Androulla Vassiliou, said: "The relationship between gender and educational attainment has changed significantly over the past 50 years and differences now take more complex forms. Schools are overwhelmingly staffed by women, but education systems are managed by men. Most graduates are female and most school drop-outs are boys. We need to base gender equality policies on these realities."

The Commission study is based on the work the Eurydice network, which collects and analyses data on education systems. The study covers 29 countries (all EU Member States except Bulgaria, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).

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