Religious ‘nones’ highly educated in Europe, North America, parts of Asia-Pacific | Pew Research Center

December 8, 2016

3. Educational attainment among the religiously unaffiliated

Religious ‘nones’ highly educated in Europe, North America, parts of Asia-Pacific

Religious ‘nones’ highly educated in Europe, North America, parts of Asia-Pacific

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Religious ‘nones’ highly educated in Europe, North America, parts of Asia-Pacific

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3. Educational attainment among the religiously unaffiliated
In most regions, youngest unaffiliated women are more likely to have higher education than youngest men
Unaffiliated gender gap in higher education has reversed across generations
Virtually all of youngest ‘nones’ in Asia have at least some formal schooling
Gender gap among unaffiliated in average years of schooling has closed
China’s unaffiliated make gains in secondary schooling, but rest of region surges ahead in higher education
Religious ‘nones’ saw larger drop in share with no formal schooling than affiliated
Largest gains in average years of schooling for unaffiliated are in Asia-Pacific
Youngest religious ‘nones’ have three more years of schooling than oldest
Educational gender gap for unaffiliated is somewhat smaller than for religiously affiliated adults
Educational differences between religiously unaffiliated and affiliated young adults are small in countries with large unaffiliated populations
Countries with high levels of educational attainment tend to have larger shares of religiously unaffiliated adults than countries with low attainment
Religious ‘nones’ highly educated in Europe, North America, parts of Asia-Pacific
Religiously unaffiliated adults have 8.8 years of schooling, on average, worldwide
Virtually all of youngest ‘nones’ in Asia have at least some formal schooling
More than half of religious ‘nones’ have at least secondary schooling