Higher education statistics 2015

3 February 2016

Fewer women graduated from UK universities with a STEM degree in 2015 than in 2014 (nearly 6,000 fewer, a drop of 5%). A total of 22,130 women graduated in 2015 in the five core subjects most relevant to construction, engineering and technology:

mathematical sciences
physical sciences
engineering and technology
architecture, building and planning
computer science

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This is 1220 fewer than the year before. Apart from a slight increase (45 more) in engineering and technology, numbers dropped in all four other STEM subjects above. The infographics below show the number and percentage for each of these subjects.

Comparison with men

Overall numbers of those graduating was 7% down on last year, so there were fewer men graduating in these subjects as well, although not at quite the same rate. The drop in women was 3 times greater than men in physical sciences and 5 times greater than men in mathematical sciences.

All STEM subjects

Of the women who graduated last year, 39% had a STEM degree. Women made up the majority (51%) of all those who graduated with a STEM degree, but they remain concentrated in life sciences. The bar chart below shows the male and female percentage for all STEM degrees. This updates the chart in the WISE 2014 Statistics Report.

For more detail on Higher Education results, including acceptance rates in different subjects relevant to engineering and technology, see the Engineering UK 2016 report.

Higher education statistics 2015