trends-2011-vol1-enrolment-e

The three most popular fields of study at the master’s level
continued to be the combined disciplines of business, management
and public administration; the social and behavioural sciences, and
law; and, architecture, engineering and related technologies. Each
of these fields grew by more than 75 percent during the period
from 1992 to 2008, and combined, represent 58 percent of full-time
master’s students. While enrolment numbers also increased in the
fields of education and humanities, the share of students in these
fields decreased from nine to six percent, and 11 to seven percent,
respectively.
Business, Management and
Public Administration
Social and Behavioural Sciences,
and Law
Architecture, Engineering and
Related Technologies
Health, Parks, Recreation and Fitness
Physical and Life Sciences,
and Technologies
Humanities
Education
Mathematics, Computer and
Information Sciences
Agriculture, Natural Resources
and Conservation
Visual and Performing Arts, and
Communications Technologies
FIGURE 7: The discipline preferences of masters and
doctoral students is quite different
0 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000
Source: Statistics Canada
Master’s
Full-time enrolment grew faster at the doctoral level than at the
master’s, almost doubling between 1992 and 2008. In 2008, the
three most popular
FIGURE
fields
8: Proportion of study of women continued full-time to be the combined
areas of physical
undergraduate
and life
programs
sciences,
plateaued
and
in
technologies,
2000
representing
22 percent of PhD students; social and behavioural sciences,
Female percentage of full-time enrolment
and law, representing 65% 20 percent of PhD students; and architecture,
engineering and related technologies, representing 16 percent of
60%
55%
PhD
the doctoral student body. While the number of humanities students
grew by almost 40 percent since 1992, it did not keep pace with the
much faster growth in other areas, so its share of students fell from
16 percent in 1992 to 11 percent in 2008.
Gender
In 1980, women accounted for 45 percent of all full-time undergraduate
students. Women’s enrolment surpassed men in 1987,
approximately the same time as women in other OECD countries,
including the U.S. and United Kingdom. 6 In subsequent years,
women maintained a majority on campuses, and were responsible
for much of the enrolment growth in the 1990s. Germany stands
out as an exception within OECD countries, where the majority
of students continued to be men. In 2000, 55 percent of registered
university students in Germany were men, and in 2007, men still
represented 52 percent of university students at all levels. 7
Education
Health, Parks, Recreation
and Fitness
Visual and Performing Arts, and
Communications Technologies
Humanities
Agriculture, Natural Resources
and Conservation
Physical and Life Sciences, and
Technologies
Business, Management and
Public Administration
Mathematics, Computer and
Information Sciences
Architecture, Engineering and
Related Technologies
In the early 2000s, the U.S., U.K., and Canada saw women’s share
of enrolment plateau at the undergraduate level. Women accounted
for 58 percent of enrolment at the undergraduate level in Canada,
and 55 percent in the U.S. and U.K., respectively. Then, in 2008,
all countries experienced a slight drop in the share of women’s
enrolment, in the range of one percent. This marked the first
decline in the share of female students since the post war period
from 1945 to 1955 – more than 50 years. Very similar patterns are
seen in Australia, New Zealand, the Nordic countries and several
others in the E.U. It remains to be seen whether this slight decrease
in the share of female students is an indication of a narrowing
gender gap in years to come.
Social and Behavioural
Sciences, and Law
50%
12 | Trends in Higher Education | Volume 1. Enrolment AUCC
45%
40%
ull-time enrolment
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
0%
FIGUR
in mo
Female
Source: S
FIGUR
stude