This article examines the empirical relationship of GNP/capita as an indicator of economic development and the education of women. Several indicators of female participation in first-, second-, and third-level education are used for 162 countries and territories of the world. The findings suggest that economic development has a positive effect on female education for many countries. Quadratic relationships explain significantly more of the variance than linear relationships for median educational attainment, student enrollment ratios at the second level, and the proportional participation of females in third-level education. Cubic relationships explain significantly more of the variance than either quadratic or linear relationships for economic development and first-level education and the proportional participation of females as graduates from third-level education in the field of education. Economic development is a weak predictor of the integration of females as third-level graduates in the important fields of engineering and agriculture.
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