I was wondering the same thing. It might be gender, but it could also be a strongly gender-focused society.
Which is hardly surprising.
For example in 2010 in the Netherlands (from http://barrolee.com/) 45% of women aged 30-34 have some tertiary education and 31% have completed tertiary education (31 / 45 = 69%) whereas the male statistics are 39% and 25% (25 / 39 = 64%). This is then offset by women working fewer hours per week (from Eurostat): in the Netherlands men average only 35 hours per week, and women only 25. Dutch working hours are a little extreme, but the general trend is worldwide.