Published Paper Details:

A crucial role in determining educational motivation is played by gender. The difference in educational attainment that is found between boys and girls provides evidence that educational motivation is highly gender specific. It is argued that differential market returns to educational investment in girls and boys are important determinants of parental decisions regarding schooling. Also social considerations such as perceptions of gender roles (implicit in the sexual division of labour) and son preference (biased intra-household allocation of resources) have led to educational discrimination against the female child. The perceived difference in benefits for boys and girls has definitely led to an undervaluation of female education and this is implicit in the high female non-enrolment rates and drop-out rates at different levels of education. This study attempts to analyse the gender gap in education by considering attendance ratio. The study focuses on West Bengal on the basis of data available in NSSO 52nd round.