Women in Academia

Women are currently the majority in each degree level: Bachelor’s degrees – 58%, master’s degrees – 63%, and doctoral degrees – 53%. The percentage of women among those enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs has continued to increase in the past few years, primarily as the result of an increase in the percentage of women in academic colleges: From 49% in the 2009/10 academic year to 57% in the 2017/18 academic year.

In universities, the percentage of women decreased from 55% in the 2009/10 academic year to 53% in the 2017/18 academic year. There has also been an impressive increase over the years in the participation of women in advanced degree studies. In the 1989/90 academic year, the percentage of women among those studying for a master’s degree surpassed 50%. In the 2017/18 academic year, the percentage of women enrolled in a master’s degree program in colleges was 65% compared to 58% in the universities and, on average, the percentage of women enrolled in a master’s degree program was 63% of all students. The percentage of women among students enrolled in a doctoral program increased for the first time above 50% at the end of the 1990s and in the past few years has stabilized at approximately 53%.