New educational opportunities for women around the world are traced. An introductory section provides an overview and discussion on the implications of equal education for women. Other sections discuss the historical background of equal education for women, women's literacy, the primary school experience, secondary education, technical skills, university education, careers as educators, and full sexual equality in education. History has shown that the changing role and characteristics of womanhood are expressed in the educational arena by women's choice of schools, courses, and preprofessional qualifications. Changes in female access to education both express social transformations and provide an index of future alterations in fertility patterns, family status, marital behavior, and support for ideals of sexual equality. Women's literacy is affected by prejudice, cultural imperatives, and the absence of relevant role models for women at higher stages of academic life which discourage women from making full use of their intellectual talents. Also, educational expectations for men and women remain unequal largely because marriage is regarded as the ideal career for women while the necessity of earning a living is drummed into males from an early age. The educational prospect for women is rapidly changing, though, as shown by the crumbling of the educational double standard in some countries and by United Nations statistical projections that the situation of girls attending schools is improving rapidly. (Author/ND)