- The University
- 26/03/2024
Record number of women awarded PhDs by universities
Last academic year, more women than men were awarded a PhD. The difference was bigger than ever: 182 PhDs. This is mainly thanks to the medical sciences. It happened once before that more women than men completed their PhDs at the Dutch universities. This was in 2020/2021 and the difference back then was a mere five PhDs. At the TU/e, way more men than women obtained a PhD.
Last academic year, 2,651 women were awarded PhDs, which is a record number. Even in the peak year 2020/2021, when PhD candidates in the medical sciences in particular caught up after falling behind due to the COVID pandemic, there weren’t this many women that obtained a PhD. A total of 309 people received their PhD at the TU/e in 2023: 201 men and 108 women.
The number of PhDs completed is still increasing. Last year, there were more than five thousand, owing to healthcare in particular: the medical sciences, pharmacy and similar disciplines accounted for over 2,100 of the PhDs awarded. Of these, 1,325 went to women.
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