Spain’s “Igualdad en Cifras 2026” report: girls outperform boys at every educational stage, 86.3% vs 78.1% finishing ESO, 62.2% vs 48% in Bachillerato. And 68% of public school leadership positions are held by women.
The twist: the gap flips when choosing what to study. Women cluster in personal image (92.6%), healthcare (76.9%) and social services (86.3%); men in IT (84.3%) and electricity/electronics (93.2%), and later, in labor market outcomes. Better grades, different paths. The interesting question is why.