Black Bermudian females are outpacing their black males when it comes to scholastic achievement, according to an in-depth study released this week.

The report, compiled by Columbia University professor Ronald Mincy, attributed the gap to a number of reasons, including household type and the different opportunities offered.

Bermuda International Business Association CEO Cheryl Packwood said the information in the study had been generally accepted for a while.

"I think it's historic," she said. "It goes all the way back. I think we're looking for something new and different but it doesn't sound like we have gone beyond. There's nothing new. It's a tough statistic to swallow, but it's not new."

Ms Packwood said when she went to university and worked as an attorney on Wall Street, the majority of her black colleagues were women.

"I think you know, it goes to the statement, that women don't have many other choices. We don't have the construction, we can't do the heavy lifting. We don't have those choices. There's almost a default into college. But that isn't to say that there aren't many problems in the black community."

A comparison was made between the number of black males who began high school in S1 and the number who successfully graduated. The study found that "once on site in Bermuda, we learnt that more than 50 percent of black males leave the public high schools prior to completion".

The report added: "That black Bermudian women have more schooling than black Bermudian men probably also explains why more of the former are employed in international and business service companies and have higher predicted earnings than black Bermudian men," stated the report.

"Some of the gains that black Bermudian women derive from more schooling are partially offset by the association between gender and earnings, which favours men.

"Black Bermudian men have a predicted earnings advantage over women at every level of education and in every industry. This and the higher returns to college education for black Bermudian women may explain why the former are less likely to invest in education than the latter.

"Our study of unemployment and earnings suggests that the educational choices of black Bermudian men are rational, if myopic.

"Like many young people, they may be focused on the present. Unlike their female counterparts, the benefits of getting a college education are not worth the effort required to obtain secondary school certifications that lead to college or the cost of a college education itself."

In a comparison of black Bermudian males and females, the study found:

• 36 percent of females completed higher education in comparison to 24 percent of males

• Of those with little or no education, women comprised 15 percent and men 28 percent

• Sixteen percent of women hold a Bachelor's degree or more; nine percent have an associate's degree and 11 percent a technical degree

• Nine percent of men have a Bachelor's degree or more; six percent have an associate's degree and nine percent have a technical degree

• Females aged 16 to 18 from single-parent families are two-and-a-half times more likely to be enrolled in school than males in single-parent homes

• Of those living in two-parent homes, females are three-and-a-half times more likely to be enrolled in school than males

• Females in a two-parent home are also two times more likely to have an advanced secondary degree, a Bachelor's degree or more, or a technical degree, than males in a two-parent home.

The study added: "While the gains from a technical education are higher for black Bermudian men than women, the former gain less than the latter from college. This means that young, black Bermudian women do not have to look to the future to justify investments in higher education.

"Put differently, to earn a decent living in Bermuda, young black Bermudian women have no other choice. Young black Bermudian men, by contrast, do have choices."