Milkround News, 08 June 2009
Women are more likely to go to university than men, and outperform them.
Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has found nearly half of all women will go to university, whereas just 37 percent of men will opt for higher education.
According to the figures, 41.4% of women study full-time and 7.8 percent will study part time, adding up to 49.2 percent participation. Some 32.4 percent of men will choose a full time course and 5.5 percent will study part time.
There are marked differences in areas studied. Women have higher subject specific participation rates for all subjects apart from physical sciences, technologies, architecture, building and planning, mathematical and computer science and engineering.
The HEPI claims these are among the subjects commanding the highest graduate salaries, so while women have higher subject specific participation rates in a number of subjects which can lead to high salaries, such as clinical subjects and law, overall the subjects taken by women means they often earn less than men.
Despite going on to earn less, women generally perform better than men in the degrees. Some 63.9 percent of women obtain a first or second degree compared to 59.9 percent of men. Men do just outshine women for the best marks with 13.9 percent of men achieving a first, compared to 13 percent of women.
The HEPI is concerned by the underperformance of men compared to women both attending university and attaining the top grades. It states the mindset that continues to see males as advantaged and females as disadvantaged should be reversed and any actions that help to rebalance the poor performance of males should be encouraged.
