A new study by SaveMyExams, has revealed female admission rates to STEM subjects at leading UK Universities are disproportionately low, with 85% of institutions more likely to accept male applicants.
Using figures from the UCAS Undergraduate End of Cycle Data Resource, SaveMyExams collated the number of applications and acceptances for STEM subjects at 20 of the top UK universities from 2019 – 2023. These were then filtered by male/female gender in order to establish the disparity.
UCAS only offers data on male/female applications, so they did not include any stats on gender-diverse applications.
SaveMyExams discovered that the University of Sheffield has a 14.69% acceptance rate for women compared to 14.74% rate from men. Therefore, University of Sheffield Female applicants are less likely to be accepted for STEM subjects by 0.05% than Male Applicants, SaveMyExams finds.
15% of other leading universities around the UK favour women in STEM admissions, with the University of Bath most likely to accept women’s applications.
Eva, a University of Sheffield student, who does MSc human and molecular genetics, and who previously did Biomedical science at undergraduate said: “I wouldn’t necessarily say biology is a female dominated subject, however, in my experience there has always been many girls on my course with a split of about 70% girls and 30% boys.”
SaveMyExams also found that only three UK top 20 higher education institutions for STEM subjects had an acceptance rate that favoured women. Derby, Bath and Durham remain the only three to accept more women than men in STEM subjects.
With leading universities having significant gender disparities within STEM subjects, even though women are just as likely as men to apply for these subjects, and in some cases are applying in higher numbers.
Constance Mantle, CEO at SaveMyExams, said: “Our research has worryingly found that despite women and girls pushing to enter fields and industries that were once male dominated, many of the UK’s leading universities still aren’t ready to welcome them as they do men.”
However, Sheffield, has the ninth highest STEM subject acceptance rate in the UK and a relatively even split among both gender for STEM subjects, coming out as one of the most inclusive universities across both genders for STEM applicants.
A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: “At the University of Sheffield we value and celebrate women in STEM. We are dedicated to creating a culture where our female students can thrive, helping to drive innovation and excellence.”
