Over the past seventy-five years, in many industrialized countries, three remarkable phenomena have occurred in the world of education. First, women's university graduation has caught up with men's and then, against all odds, surpassed it. Finally, despite this catching up and reversal of the trend, differences in the disciplinary and occupational choices of women and men have crystallized. Using a variety of national and international statistical data, the authors of this book not only analyze the evolution of these phenomena, but also attempt to explain the underlying causes as well as their many economic and social consequences. They also propose to put in place, from the perinatal stage to university, proven measures to reduce the growing under-education of men - increasingly harmful in a knowledge-based society and economy - while continuing to encourage the academic performance of women. Finally, in a measured and thoughtful way, they question the many public policies that seek to alter women's disciplinary and occupational choices without taking into account their abilities, preferences and the various constraints imposed by the labour market and the demands of a successful career under the current rules of the game. These policies also ignore men's disciplinary choices and their low participation in university studies, which should be urgently taken into account.