Student equality, diversity and inclusion report 2019 Population by gender

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reported that in the academic year 2018-2019, women continued to comprise the majority of students in UK HE (56.7%), whilst men comprised 43.3%. The percentage of students who were women in Scotland stood at 58.3%, which is the highest of the four UK nations.

Findings

The gender breakdown of the student population at St Andrews is: 41.5% men and 58.4% women. This is in line with current gendered trends in UK higher education and in Scotland. As is the case in UK HE, apart from research postgraduates, the majority of students studying at every degree level at St Andrews were women: women comprised 56.2% of undergraduates and 60.6% of taught postgraduates. Men were only marginally overrepresented amongst research postgraduates, where they comprised 51.7%.

Students by gender 2018-2019

A bar graph showing the percentage of men and women in St Andrews, Scottish and UK higher education, in 2018-2019.
A bar graph showing the percentage of men and women in St Andrews, Scottish and UK higher education, in 2018-2019.
  • Men comprised 41.6% of St Andrews student population, 41.5% of Scottish higher education and 43.3% of UK HE.
  • Women comprised 58.4% of St Andrews population, 58.3% of Scottish higher education and 56.7% of UK higher education.
  • There is an unequal gender distribution, favouring women at St Andrews, in Scottish and UK higher education.

Students by degree level and gender 2018-2019

Undergraduate

A bar graph depicting undergraduate students by gender in 2018-2019.
A bar graph depicting undergraduate students by gender in 2018-2019.
  • St Andrews
    Men comprised 39.7%, whilst women comprised 60.3%.
  • Scottish HE
    Men comprised 41.3%, whilst women comprised 58.7%.
  • UK HE
    Men comprised 43.8%, whilst women comprised 56.2%.

The bar graph demonstrates an unequal gender distribution in favour of undergraduate women at St Andrews, Scottish and UK HE.

Postgraduate taught

A bar graph depicting postgraduate taught students by gender in 2018-2019.
A bar graph depicting postgraduate taught students by gender in 2018-2019.
  • St Andrews
    Men comprised 44%, whilst women comprised 56%.
  • Scottish HE
    Men comprised 39.1%, whilst women comprised 60.9%.
  • UK HE
    Men comprised 39.4%, whilst women comprised 60.6%.

The bar graph demonstrates an unequal gender distribution in favour of women at St Andrews, Scottish and UK HE. The unequal gender distribution was smaller at St Andrews than it is in Scotland and the UK.

Postgraduate research

A bar graph depicting postgraduate research students by gender in 2018-2019.
A bar graph depicting postgraduate research students by gender in 2018-2019.
  • St Andrews
    Men comprised 55.3%, whilst women comprised 44.7%.
  • Scotland HE
    Men comprised 52.9%, whilst women comprised 47.1%.
  • UK HE
    Men comprised 51.7%, whilst women comprised 48.3%.

The bar graph demonstrates that there is an unequal gender distribution of research postgraduates which favours men. Research postgraduates are the only cohort where there are more men than women. The unequal gender distribution is larger at St Andrews than the Scottish and UK benchmark.