The gender composition of internationally mobile tertiary students from Italy differed widely across destinations in 2020. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) indicator `E.5T8.FOREIGN.ORG380.GPIA` fixes Italy as the country of origin and reports an adjusted gender parity index for each destination country or territory. The number is not a student count and not a female share. It is an adjusted index on a 0–2 scale centered on 1, with 0.97–1.03 commonly treated as the parity band.
The official dataset contains 74 destination observations. Thirty-one are below 0.97, nine are inside 0.97–1.03, and thirty-four are above 1.03. The median is 1.002, close to parity, while the mean is 1.097. Eight destinations—Aruba, Andorra, Namibia, Ghana, Viet Nam, Oman, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—sit at the upper endpoint of 2.00000. Cuba is lowest at 0.14286, followed by Saudi Arabia at 0.20000 and Malaysia at 0.41667.
Table of Contents
Italy is the origin; each row is a study destination
The origin-destination direction determines what the indicator means. The `ORG380` component fixes Italy as the origin. An Australia row therefore describes gender parity among Italy-origin internationally mobile tertiary students studying in Australia, not Australian students studying abroad.
The series is also narrower than the gender composition of all international students in a destination. Students originating in other countries are excluded. It is best understood as one origin-specific view of international tertiary mobility.
A value near 1 indicates relative gender balance
Gender parity indices compare female and male values. The adjusted form changes the above-parity side so disparities in both directions can be read more symmetrically around 1. Values below 1 indicate a lower female relative value, while values above 1 indicate a higher female relative value.
The 0.97–1.03 band is commonly used as a practical parity range. Only nine of the 74 destination observations fall inside that band. The rest are distributed on both sides, even though the overall median sits almost exactly at 1.
The median looks balanced, but the country distribution is broad
The median is 1.00208, which by itself suggests a distribution centered close to parity. Yet only nine destinations are inside the parity band. Thirty-one are below it and thirty-four are above it. The range extends from 0.14286 to 2.00000, so the destination-level variation is much wider than the median alone would imply.
This is a useful example of why a single central statistic can be misleading. The median describes the middle observation, but it does not show how many destinations sit far from 1 or how many are concentrated near the adjusted endpoints.
Eight destinations are at the upper endpoint of 2
Aruba, Andorra, Namibia, Ghana, Viet Nam, Oman, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo all have a published GPIA of 2.00000. Other relatively high observations include Jordan at 1.75000, El Salvador at 1.66667, Morocco at 1.54839, and Costa Rica at 1.54545.
There are 8 official values of 2.00000. They are valid endpoint observations, not 200% and not data errors. The adjusted transformation means that 2 should not be read as literally twice as many female students as male students.
| Selected high destination observations | 2020 GPIA |
|---|---|
| Andorra | 2.00000 |
| Aruba | 2.00000 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2.00000 |
| Egypt | 2.00000 |
| Ghana | 2.00000 |
| Namibia | 2.00000 |
| Oman | 2.00000 |
| Viet Nam | 2.00000 |
| Jordan | 1.75000 |
| El Salvador | 1.66667 |
Cuba is the lowest observed destination
Cuba records 0.14286, followed by Saudi Arabia at 0.20000, Malaysia at 0.41667, China, Macao Special Administrative Region at 0.57143, Colombia at 0.58621, Thailand at 0.62500, Ukraine at 0.63636, and Czechia at 0.65569.
Values near zero indicate a large imbalance on the side where the female relative value is lower. A GPIA of 0.20 does not mean that 20% of the students are female. The index is derived from the relative female and male distribution and must not be substituted for sex-specific student counts.
| Low destination observations | 2020 GPIA |
|---|---|
| Cuba | 0.14286 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0.20000 |
| Malaysia | 0.41667 |
| China, Macao Special Administrative Region | 0.57143 |
| Colombia | 0.58621 |
| Thailand | 0.62500 |
| Ukraine | 0.63636 |
| Czechia | 0.65569 |
| Lithuania | 0.66667 |
| Republic of Moldova | 0.70000 |
The mean is higher than the median because of the upper tail
The simple mean is 1.097, compared with a median of 1.002. The first quartile is 0.799 and the third quartile 1.272. The middle half of the destination observations therefore lies between roughly 0.799 and 1.272.
The eight values at 2.0, along with several observations above 1.5, pull the mean upward. The lower tail also contains very small values, but there are more observations above the parity band than below it. Mean and median therefore describe different aspects of the distribution.
A banded view shows disparities on both sides
There are 3 observations below 0.50, 16 between 0.50 and under 0.80, and 12 between 0.80 and under 0.97. Nine fall in the parity band. On the upper side, 19 are between 1.03 and under 1.50, 7 are between 1.50 and under 2.00, and eight are exactly 2.00.
These are descriptive bands rather than official performance grades. The formal reference remains parity at 1 and the 0.97–1.03 range. The extra intervals simply make the shape of the observed distribution easier to see.
There are no official zeros in the observed data
None of the 74 published destination observations equals 0.00000; the minimum is 0.14286. That does not mean every possible destination has a positive value. Countries without an observation remain missing rather than being inserted as zero.
Keeping missing and zero separate is essential. Zero-filling unreported destinations would create false extreme cases, lower the mean, and distort the ranking. Conversely, the eight official values at 2 must remain in the data because they are actual published endpoint observations.
Small student populations can produce large index movements
A parity index can change sharply when the number of students in a destination is small. A shift of only a few students may produce a large movement when the underlying Italy-origin population is limited.
The current dataset contains the final GPIA but not the female and male counts used to construct it. It therefore cannot show whether an endpoint value represents a large population or only a small number of students. Questions about scale require a separate count series.
GPIA is not a ranking of study destinations
A high or low GPIA does not tell us whether a destination has better universities, lower tuition, safer campuses, or more attractive study opportunities. It only describes the relative gender distribution of Italy-origin internationally mobile tertiary students.
Field of study, degree level, exchange programmes, scholarship patterns, migration routes, and individual preferences could all be associated with the observed composition. The current series does not identify causal mechanisms.
The pattern does not represent all international students
Italy-origin students are only one origin group within each destination. The gender distribution of the destination’s entire international student population can differ substantially once students from other countries are included.
The precise scope is therefore adjusted gender parity among internationally mobile tertiary students originating in Italy, by destination. General claims about a destination’s overall international-education sector require broader evidence.
One year cannot establish direction of change
The 2020 cross-section does not show whether destinations are moving toward parity or away from it. It also cannot tell whether endpoint values such as 2.0 are persistent or temporary.
A trend analysis should follow the same `E.5T8.FOREIGN.ORG380.GPIA` indicator across multiple years and, where possible, add sex-specific student counts. That would help distinguish genuine mobility changes from large index movements caused by small destination populations.
Official source and interpretation
The official source is the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. This comparison uses 74 NATIONAL destination observations for 2020 from indicator `E.5T8.FOREIGN.ORG380.GPIA`. Italy is the fixed origin and each row is a destination country or territory. Official values are available through the UNESCO UIS Data API.
The key rules are to treat GPIA as an adjusted 0–2 parity index rather than a count or percentage, keep Italy as the fixed origin and the country rows as destinations, and preserve missing observations as missing instead of replacing them with zero.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the countries in this dataset origins or destinations?
They are destinations. Italy is the fixed origin for the internationally mobile tertiary-student group.
What does a GPIA of 1 mean?
It is the reference point for gender parity, with 0.97–1.03 commonly treated as the parity band.
Does a GPIA of 2 mean twice as many female students?
No. The adjusted transformation changes ratios above 1, so 2 is not a literal female-to-male multiple.
Are destinations without observations treated as zero?
No. Missing source observations remain missing and are not zero-filled.
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