Literacy & Gender

As a woman, I was particularly interested to see how fellow females fared in the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Would they come out higher or lower than men, or would it be about equal?

Let’s see how the numbers compare, both for men and women, and between 1992 and 2003.

·      Women scored higher than men in prose and document literacy. Their prose scores remained the same from 1992, while men’s scores dropped by 4 points. Women actually gained 4 points in document literacy, while men dropped 5 points.

·      Men scored high in quantitative literacy. But although they still scored lower, women’s quantitative literacy scores still increased by 10 points. (Men did not change from 1992 in this area).

·      The percentage of women with Below Basic literacy levels decreased.

This is good news for women, particularly when compared with worldwide statistics: women account for two-thirds of the world’s lowest literate adults (ProLiteracy). 

For further information, please see

A First Look at the Literacy of American Adults in the 21st Century (NAAL).

ProLiteracy