UK university gender gap widens as women far outnumber men

Women now outnumber men in almost two thirds of degree subjects, according to new figures which reveal the extent of the gender gap in UK universities.

Women now outnumber men in almost two thirds of degree subjects, according to new figures which reveal the extent of the gender gap in UK universities.

This gulf has almost doubled since 2007, an analysis of the data suggests.

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The statistics, published by university admissions service Ucas, also shows that while women are ahead in the majority of subjects, men continue to dominate in many areas that are often seen as traditionally “male” - such as engineering and some sciences.

Ucas chief Mary Curnock Cook warned that despite clear evidence of a growing gender gap, there has been “deafening policy silence” on the issue.

An analysis of the latest figures found that women outnumber men in 112 out of 180 subjects, while men are ahead in 65 and there is a tie in three.

Overall, the gap has nearly doubled in eight years, with 66,840 more women now on degree courses than men, compared with 34,035 in 2007.

The biggest gender gap is in nursing, which has 22,285 more female students than male. In this area, women outnumber men by nine to one.

Psychology has the second biggest gulf in terms of more women than men, followed by social work, academic studies in education and design studies.

Women are also ahead in areas such as history, philosophy, English, law and biology.

Among the subjects where men are ahead, the biggest gap is in computer science, which has 13,085 more male students than female, followed by mechanical engineering, sport and exercise science, electronic and electrical engineering and economics.

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The figures all cover students who started degree courses last autumn.

Ucas noted that as there are more men in the population than women in general, all being equal, there should be around 5% more male students than female in each subject.

Ms Curnock Cook said: “Girls are doing better throughout primary, secondary and higher education than boys; poor, white boys are the most disadvantaged group in entry to higher education and the gap is getting bigger. “But despite the clear evidence and despite the press coverage, there is a deafening policy silence on the issue. Has the women’s movement now become so normalised that we cannot conceive of needing to take positive action to secure equal education outcomes for boys?”

Concerns about the gender gap in higher education have been growing for some time. Just last month a Ucas report found that the gulf between the numbers of young men and women going to university has reached a record level, with tens of thousands of men “missing” from higher education.

Young female students are now over a third more likely to start a degree course than their male counterparts, while those from poorer backgrounds are more than 50% more likely to enter university, it found.

A Department for Business, Innovation & Skills Spokesperson said: “As a One Nation Government we are committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background or gender. This academic year we saw record numbers of students entering university, including from disadvantaged backgrounds. We are currently consulting on further measures to improve access to higher education, including from white working class boys.”

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