Enrolment in tertiary Education (%) from the Global Gender Gap Index
WEF_GGGR_2025.pdf
shows figures for Japan where Enrolment in tertiary Education (%) is 63.75% for females versus 65.46% for males.
The source of these figures is data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, which can be verified in the UIS Data Browser.
Enrolment in the UIS refers to being enrolled, not entering school. The 63.75% figure for females is also an enrolment rate, not an entry rate into higher education. While the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) publishes data on entry rates into universities and junior colleges, these are different metrics and cannot be directly compared.
The following document from the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications provides the correct explanation.
"The 'enrolment rate' is the ratio of enrolled students to the population of school age."
Since the OECD's Education at a Glance also sources its data from the UIS, it reflects enrolment rates rather than entry rates.
It seems many people are under a misunderstanding.