More women getting PhDs than men
Women perform better but are less likely to reach the top of the academic ladder
Photo: DUB
Men and women are different, also when it comes to higher education. They choose different programmes and progress through their studies at different paces. Men are also more likely to drop out than women.
The difference is considerable at universities of applied sciences, where the dropout rate after three years is 25 percent for men, compared to 16 percent for women. 41.5 percent of men obtain their degree after five years of study, compared to 60 percent of women. After eight years, the figures are 63 percent and 77 percent, respectively.
This difference also exists at the university level. After five years (which, in most cases, is enough time for a three-year Bachelor's degree and a two-year Master's degree), more than 80 percent of women obtain at least a Bachelor's degree. This percentage is below 70 percent for men.
The dropout rate is also higher among men. Only one in ten women do not obtain a degree after eight years of study. Among men, that's two in ten. These figures do not include international students.
the highest university diploma obtained by men and women after 5 years and 8 years. © HOP. Source: CBS.
For many years, more men than women obtained PhDs than women, despite the better performance of the latter at the Bachelor's and Master's levels. However, a turning point seems to have been reached. In the last count (academic year 2022/2023), 2,469 men obtained a PhD compared to 2,651 women.
The proportion of men and women obtaining PhDs in the Netherlands. © HOP. Source: CBS.
It should be noted that more men are employed as PhD candidates at universities, perhaps because they tend to take longer to complete their studies. Furthermore, the figures do not include PhD candidates at University Medical Centres, where more women get PhDs than men.
There are approximately the same numbers of male and female postdocs, lecturers and associate professors, but men are more likely to reach the top of the academic ladder. Nearly 3,200 people have the title of professor in the Netherlands and only 918 of them are women.
