On International Women’s Day, celebrated this Sunday, March 8, data from Inep (National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira) reveal a movement that goes beyond statistics: women are the majority in registrations and participation in the country’s main educational exams.
The scenario highlights the growing search of women for training and professional qualifications, reflecting women’s continuous investment in education as a way to expand opportunities and strengthen their insertion in the job market.
In the (National High School Examination) 2025, women registered 2,889,851 entries, which corresponds to 60% of the total, which was 4,811,338.
The experience of psychology student Letícia Jácome Rodrigues shows the impact of Enem on the academic trajectory of thousands of young people. She took the exam in 2022 and, with the grade obtained, was able to enter a higher education institution.
The student also highlights the female role in the search for training. “I see my generation of women as a generation that wants to know more. Having such a high number of applicants reveals how willing we are to learn, evolve and always seek to do the best we can”, she says.
Female predominance does not only appear in Enem. In other assessments, the scenario also repeats itself. In the National Teaching Test (PND) 2025, an assessment aimed at the selection and entry of professionals into the teaching career in public education networks, the female public registered 823,026 registrations (75.7%), out of a total of 1,086,914.
In the first edition of Enamed (National Medical Training Assessment Exam), which assessed the quality of medical students’ training and supported public policies aimed at improving courses and medical training in the country, women were also the majority. They represented 58,963 (61.0%) of the total 96,635 registered, while the number of men was 37,672 (39.0%).
Women and education – According to , Brazilian basic education has 1,896,389 female teachers, representing 78.8% of the total of 2,407,049 teachers. A number that reinforces the predominant female presence in classrooms across the country and highlights the leading role of women in the training of new generations.
The trajectory of professor Natália Guimarães reflects this reality. A pedagogue trained at UEG (State University of Goiás), she has been teaching Elementary School I for 23 years. “My mother had a school and I always liked children. During the university entrance exam, I chose to study nursing and pedagogy. I was approved in pedagogy and started teaching while still in college”, she recalls.
For the teacher, it plays an essential role in the social development of children. “When they arrive at school, they begin to broaden their perspective of others and understand that they are part of a collective. This expands the possibilities for life”, he highlights.
In higher education, women also remain the majority among graduates. In total, 793,062 are female graduates, representing 59.5% of the total of 1,333,828, according to the Higher Education Census, reaffirming the increasingly significant female presence in the country’s universities.
Among the courses most sought after by them are pedagogy, law and administration, areas that concentrate a large proportion of graduates and highlight the protagonism of women in different fields of knowledge.
