applies to people who are unable to provide themselves. All others are trying to find
work for what they need various forms of adult education.
At the same time, the importance of education for youth from the privileged
segment of population has increased because of new ways of forming social elite in the
western society. Such factors as wealth, origin, profitable relationships continue to play
a significant role. But today it is not enough. A very important condition for joining
economic and political establishment is a diploma of some prestigious institution
(capital "grand school" in France, etc.).
The growth of social demand for education is also conditioned by such factor as
the involvement an increasing number of girls in secondary and high education due to
a number of economic and socio-psychological preconditions.
The growth of women economic activity was facilitated by the reduction of heavy
physical labor at work, high efficiency of women's work with electronics and precision
instrumentation and the expansion of health and education sphere, which provides
millions of new jobs for women. However, there is also such a factor as the lack of
husband’s salary to mantain a certain economical level of family. At the same time, we
should take into account factors as the growth of women's social consciousness, the
desire for independence and real social equality with men. All this led to the willing to
work in previously unavailable for women professions. Today, in the USA and Western
Europe, the proportion of women among highly skilled professionals in some sectors
of the national economy has grown to 25-35%.
All these processes were resulted in the rapid development of women education.
In developed western countries, girls make up more than half of full-time students and
almost half of students in high education. The female contingent of bachelors, masters,
doctors of sciences has significantly increased. Some developments in this area have
also taken place in developing countries. Women are for 70% of the 1.3 billion people
living in poverty. Woman, as at least half of the population, work 2/3 of the total
working time, and receive 1/10 of the total profit. The level of female non-literacy in
the world is almost twice higher that men (29% and 16% respectively) [16].
Apart from mentioned social factors that have a significant impact on the demand
for education, we will also note a number of other that are being significantly
influenced by education. For doing so, we turn to the mentioned document – the "High
Education Project for the New Millennium: Cost, Price, Productivity"[24] developed
by the Institute for High Education Policy ( the USA).
Therefore, we crearly see the impact of improving education on the economic and
social indicators of life for both an individual and society. Increasing the educational
level should remain the subject not only private but public interest, broad support of
society and the state, including material support. Consequences the lack of such support
are the following:
- 1152 -