These bar charts show the differences between developing and industrialized countries on

what pertains to participation in education and science.

In terms of the number of years of schooling received, the first chart makes it evident that
when comparing the scenarios in 1980 and 1990, the gap has grown larger. In 1980, the
length of time people spent at school in industrialized countries was 8.5 years. However, the
figure for this category was only 2.5 years for developing countries. The gap increased further
in 1990, when industrialized nations rose their years of schooling to 10.5, while developing
nations reached only 3.5 years.

We can see a similar pattern in the second graph. It shows that the number of people
working as scientists and technicians in industrialized countries rose from 55 to 85 per 1000
people between 1980 and 1990. Similarly, there was an increase in this same category in
developing nations, from 12 to 20. In spite of this growth, the gap is still large.

Last but not least, the figures for spending on research and development show that
industrialized countries more than doubled their spending, from US $200bn to US $420bn. On
the contrary, developing nations actually decreased theirs, from US $75bn to US $25bn.

In general terms, we can see that the gap in education and science is not only large, but
growing as well.