Rate of female students in universities soars to 51.7 pct

ANKARA

The rate of female students in universities has risen to 51.7 percent, while the percentage of female academics in Türkiye has ticked up to 46.4 percent in 2024, surpassing the OECD countries' average of 43 percent, according to a report by the Higher Education Council (YÖK).

YÖK shared data on female students enrolled in universities and women in academia on Feb. 11, the United Nations International Day of Women in Science.

The proportion of female students enrolled in universities reached 50.8 percent last year, surpassing male students for the first time. In 2024, this ratio increased even more in favor of females, reaching 51.7 percent.

There are 181,498 academic staff at universities in Türkiye. Among them, 97,291 are male and 84,207 are female. Hence, the rate of female academics increased to 46.4 percent. This rate is above the average of 43 percent of female academics in Europe and OECD countries.

Around 34.3 percent of professors, 41.8 percent of associate professors and 47.4 percent of doctorate academic staff are women. While the field with the highest rate of female academics is health sciences, interest in programs related to natural sciences, mathematics and statistics has also increased.

The percentage of female academics working in the departments of engineering sciences has also increased to 30 percent as of this year. The rate of female students enrolled in the engineering department in the 2023-2024 academic year increased by approximately 4 percent compared to previous years and reached 31 percent.

On the other hand, Hacettepe University ranks 60th worldwide in Times Higher Education's Gender Equality ranking based on sustainability indicators. In the World University Rankings on this subject, 55 Turkish universities are among the world's top 1,200 universities.