Regional and Gender Disparities in Higher Education in Nepal: A Quantitative Case Study of Structural Inequality in Federal Higher Education

Abstract

Aggregate enrollment indicators can obscure regional and gender inequalities within Nepal’s higher education system. This quantitative case study examines these disparities using national data from the University Grants Commission’s Education Management Information System (EMIS) Report on Higher Education 2023/24 (2080/081 B.S.). Descriptive statistical analysis examined enrollment, campus distribution, and public financing, with data disaggregated by province, ecological belt, gender, academic level, faculty specialization, and campus type. Women constituted 56.58% of the 633,053 enrolled students, with a national Gender Parity Index of 1.30 and a female gross enrollment ratio of 24.6%, compared with 17.8% for men. However, female representation declined from 57.6% at the bachelor’s level to 48.7% at the master’s level, 22.4% at the MPhil level, and 17.7% at the doctoral level. Horizontal segregation was also pronounced: women accounted for 24.4% of engineering enrollment and 14.5% of Sanskrit enrollment, compared with over 70% in education and majorities in medicine and management. Regional disparities were evident in Bagmati’s concentration of 44.04% of national enrollment and 43.58% of campuses, compared with 4.01% and 4.05%, respectively, in Karnali. The Hill, Tarai, and Mountain belts accounted for 55.47%, 41.96%, and 2.56% of enrollment, respectively. Institutional concentration compounded these disparities: Tribhuvan University enrolled 77.61% of students across 1,115 of the country’s 1,432 campuses and received 70.3% of government financing to universities. These findings demonstrate that women’s aggregate enrollment advantage coexists with substantial vertical and horizontal segregation, geographic disparities, and institutional concentration. The study contributes an intersectional framework for interpreting inequality within Nepal’s federal higher education system and considering how regional, gender, and caste-based disadvantages may intersect. Policy implications include targeted resource allocation to underserved provinces and ecological belts, expanded quotas and scholarships for women pursuing graduate study in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, incorporation of caste and ethnicity variables into EMIS, and institutional diversification.