Research has consistently shown that equitable, diverse and inclusive workplaces are more productive and innovative, and achieve better outcomes.

Studies also show that systemic barriers have a negative effect on the attraction, retention and progression of women in academic and research careers.

The loss of such expertise is a waste of knowledge, skills and investment, and impacts our nation’s research performance and productivity.

To ensure we benefit from our top-quality academic and research talent, we need to ensure gender balance and diversity throughout the academic pipeline.

SAGE considers gender balance to be 40% women, 40% men, 20% people of any gender. Applying a 40:40:20 approach is inclusive of those identifying outside of the gender binary, which is a key principle of Athena Swan. Compared to a 50:50 approach, it also better accommodates minor fluctuations and is more realistic when working with small numbers.

Data from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment show that women continue to be underrepresented at senior levels in every field.

Proportion of men and women by level in Natural and Physical Sciences

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. There is gender balance from undergraduate to Level B academics. From Level C onwards though, the proportion of women drops below 40%. The gender gap at Level C and above narrowed slightly in 2020.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in natural and physical sciences. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 45,957 47% 142 0% 51,690 53% 97,789 8,672 47% 9,961 53% 18,633
Postgraduate 12,860 49% 16 0% 13,378 51% 26,254 2,308 49% 2,407 51% 4,715
Level A 147 48% 0 0% 162 52% 309 172 49% 177 51% 349
Level B 450 50% 2 0% 444 50% 896 600 59% 425 41% 1,025
Level C 645 61% 1 0% 410 39% 1,056 689 64% 384 36% 1,073
Above Level C 1,371 75% 0 0% 458 25% 1,829 1,308 80% 322 20% 1,630
GRAND TOTAL 61,430 48% 161 0% 66,542 52% 128,133 13,749 50% 13,676 50% 27,425

Proportion of men and women by level in Engineering and Related Technologies

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Women make up less than 30% of students and academic staff at all levels except Level B, where just over 30% of academic staff are women. The proportion of women increases slightly from the undergraduate level to Level A or B, but then decreases again from Level C onwards. The gender gap narrowed very slightly at all levels except at Level B, where the gender gap decreased by more than 10%.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in engineering and related technologies. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 65,756 82% 63 0% 14,070 18% 79,889 10,887 84% 2,081 16% 12,968
Postgraduate 26,913 77% 19 0% 7,834 23% 34,766 5,242 79% 1,361 21% 6,603
Level A 81 75% 0 0% 27 25% 108 106 77% 32 23% 138
Level B 350 68% 0 0% 163 32% 513 481 81% 112 19% 593
Level C 598 86% 0 0% 101 14% 699 582 87% 88 13% 670
Above Level C 979 86% 0 0% 159 14% 1,138 836 90% 97 10% 933
GRAND TOTAL 94,677 81% 82 0% 22,354 19% 117,113 18,134 83% 3,771 17% 21,905

Proportion of men and women by level in Architecture and Building

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Men outnumber women at all levels. However, there is gender balance from the undergraduate level to Level B for both years, and at Level C in 2020. The proportion of women decreases gradually from postgraduate level onwards. In 2020, the gender gap decreased at all levels except Level B, where it stayed the same.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in architecture and building. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 17,648 56% 36 0% 14,005 44% 31,689 2,520 59% 1,748 41% 4,268
Postgraduate 5,743 51% 5 0% 5,607 49% 11,355 1,430 55% 1,186 45% 2,616
Level A 21 53% 0 0% 19 48% 40 17 59% 12 41% 29
Level B 143 56% 0 0% 114 44% 257 106 56% 84 44% 190
Level C 134 60% 0 0% 89 40% 223 122 63% 72 37% 194
Above Level C 133 65% 0 0% 71 35% 204 111 73% 42 27% 153
GRAND TOTAL 23,822 54% 41 0% 19,905 45% 43,768 4,306 58% 3,144 42% 7,450

Proportion of men and women by level in Agriculture Environmental and Related Studies

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. There is gender balance at Level B and below, though women outnumber men. In 2014, the proportion of women dipped below 30% after Level B. The gender gaps at Level C and above narrowed considerably in 2020, although gender balance was still not achieved above Level C.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in agriculture environmental and related studies. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 5,787 41% 25 0% 8,424 59% 14,236 1,202 47% 1,361 53% 2,563
Postgraduate 3,138 44% 11 0% 3,962 56% 7,111 806 47% 891 53% 1,697
Level A 13 50% 0 0% 13 50% 26 26 47% 29 53% 55
Level B 57 45% 1 1% 69 54% 127 84 55% 69 45% 153
Level C 84 56% 0 0% 67 44% 151 131 74% 47 26% 178
Above Level C 187 75% 0 0% 62 25% 249 187 82% 42 18% 229
GRAND TOTAL 9,266 42% 37 0% 12,597 58% 21,900 2,436 50% 2,439 50% 4,875

Proportion of men and women by level in Health

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Women outnumber men at all levels except Above Level C. Women make up around 75% of students and staff from the undergraduate level to Level B, after which the proportion of women drops sharply. Gender balance is achieved at Level C and above. The gender gap in favour of men at Above Level C is smaller in 2020.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in health. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 47,529 24% 158 0% 150,954 76% 198,641 8,084 26% 22,699 74% 30,783
Postgraduate 22,484 29% 54 0% 54,074 71% 76,612 4,635 27% 12,306 73% 16,941
Level A 101 24% 0 0% 316 76% 417 135 27% 366 73% 501
Level B 551 26% 1 0% 1,533 74% 2,085 529 28% 1,384 72% 1,913
Level C 570 40% 0 0% 865 60% 1,435 609 45% 755 55% 1,364
Above Level C 887 52% 1 0% 810 48% 1,698 1,004 61% 642 39% 1,646
GRAND TOTAL 72,122 26% 214 0% 208,552 74% 280,888 14,996 28% 38,152 72% 53,148

Proportion of men and women by level in Education

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Women outnumber men at all levels. There is no gender balance except at Above Level C in 2014. Generally, the proportion of women decreases as level increases. The gender gap in favour of women became slightly wider in 2020.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in education. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 17,666 24% 43 0% 56,667 76% 74,376 2,552 19% 10,736 81% 13,288
Postgraduate 12,861 26% 67 0% 36,167 74% 49,095 5,227 28% 13,540 72% 18,767
Level A 18 18% 0 0% 82 82% 100 26 25% 78 75% 104
Level B 196 27% 0 0% 523 73% 719 262 29% 653 71% 915
Level C 163 31% 1 0% 358 69% 522 194 35% 362 65% 556
Above Level C 167 38% 0 0% 273 62% 440 180 44% 233 56% 413
GRAND TOTAL 31,071 25% 111 0% 94,070 75% 125,252 8,441 25% 25,602 75% 34,043

Proportion of men and women by level in Management and Commerce

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. The gender ratio is close to 50:50 at Level B and below. Men make up more than 60% of academics from Level C onwards, although the gender gap narrowed slightly in 2020.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in management and commerce. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 110,070 51% 61 0% 107,189 49% 217,320 27,404 47% 31,282 53% 58,686
Postgraduate 70,133 50% 53 0% 70,646 50% 140,832 19,805 51% 18,791 49% 38,596
Level A 118 50% 0 0% 117 50% 235 102 46% 119 54% 221
Level B 687 51% 1 0% 658 49% 1,346 696 55% 569 45% 1,265
Level C 656 61% 1 0% 426 39% 1,083 598 63% 351 37% 949
Above Level C 760 66% 0 0% 385 34% 1,145 668 71% 277 29% 945
GRAND TOTAL 182,424 50% 116 0% 179,421 50% 361,961 49,273 49% 51,389 51% 100,662

Proportion of men and women by level in Society and Culture

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Women outnumber men at Level B and below, and at Level C in 2020. The proportion of women decreases gradually each level. There is gender balance between Levels A and C for both years, and at Above Level C in 2020. The gender gap in favour of men at Above Level C narrowed in 2020.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in society and culture. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 73,446 33% 398 0% 149,781 67% 223,625 13,747 35% 25,893 65% 39,640
Postgraduate 28,703 33% 192 0% 56,977 66% 85,872 9,331 38% 15,508 62% 24,839
Level A 161 40% 0 0% 237 60% 398 213 40% 315 60% 528
Level B 852 44% 2 0% 1,087 56% 1,941 1,011 46% 1,171 54% 2,182
Level C 909 48% 0 0% 987 52% 1,896 854 52% 786 48% 1,640
Above Level C 1,304 56% 2 0% 1,034 44% 2,340 1,160 63% 692 37% 1,852
GRAND TOTAL 105,375 33% 594 0% 210,103 66% 316,072 26,316 37% 44,365 63% 70,681

Proportion of men and women by level in Information Technology

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Men make up more than 70% of undergraduate students and academic staff at Levels C and above. Gender balance is only observed for Level A academics, of which women make up 40% in both years. The gender gap narrowed by about 10% for postgraduate students and Level B academics, but widened by about 5% at Level C.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in information technology. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 52,472 81% 85 0% 12,298 19% 64,855 6,001 83% 1,254 17% 7,255
Postgraduate 34,143 67% 16 0% 16,898 33% 51,057 3,734 74% 1,307 26% 5,041
Level A 47 59% 0 0% 32 41% 79 30 60% 20 40% 50
Level B 347 67% 0 0% 172 33% 519 205 76% 66 24% 271
Level C 354 79% 0 0% 93 21% 447 220 76% 71 24% 291
Above Level C 466 80% 0 0% 116 20% 582 230 80% 59 20% 289
GRAND TOTAL 87,829 75% 101 0% 29,609 25% 117,539 10,420 79% 2,777 21% 13,197

Proportion of men and women by level in Creative Arts

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Women outnumber men at Level A and below, and at Level B in 2020. The proportion of women increases slightly from undergraduate to postgraduate level, falls sharply from postgraduate to Level A, and then decreases gradually from Level A to Above Level C. There is gender balance from Level A onwards. There’s little change in the gender gap across both years.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in creative arts. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 29,451 39% 259 0% 45,778 61% 75,488 6,489 38% 10,701 62% 17,190
Postgraduate 4,032 30% 43 0% 9,541 70% 13,616 1,279 33% 2,637 67% 3,916
Level A 84 43% 0 0% 110 57% 194 105 46% 124 54% 229
Level B 398 47% 1 0% 439 52% 838 463 50% 470 50% 933
Level C 305 52% 0 0% 279 48% 584 348 52% 316 48% 664
Above Level C 260 57% 0 0% 197 43% 457 255 58% 186 42% 441
GRAND TOTAL 34,530 38% 303 1% 56,344 62% 91,177 8,939 38% 14,434 62% 23,373

Proportion of men and women by level in STEMM

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. There is gender balance at Level B and below, though women generally outnumber men. At the student levels, the gender ratio is close to 50:50. The proportion of women increases at Level A, but decreases sharply after Level B. In 2020, the gender gap favouring women at Levels A and B grew wider, while the gender gap favouring men at Levels C and above became smaller.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in STEMM disciplines. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 235,149 48% 509 0% 251,441 52% 487,099 37,366 49% 39,104 51% 76,470
Postgraduate 105,281 51% 121 0% 101,753 49% 207,155 18,155 48% 19,458 52% 37,613
Level A 410 42% 0 0% 569 58% 979 486 43% 636 57% 1,122
Level B 1,898 43% 4 0% 2,495 57% 4,397 2,005 48% 2,140 52% 4,145
Level C 2,385 59% 1 0% 1,625 41% 4,011 2,353 62% 1,417 38% 3,770
Above Level C 4,023 71% 1 0% 1,676 29% 5,700 3,676 75% 1,204 25% 4,880
GRAND TOTAL 349,146 49% 636 0% 359,559 51% 709,341 64,041 50% 63,959 50% 128,000

Proportion of men and women by level in STEM

Line chart with 4 lines. The horizontal axis has 6 levels: undergraduate student, postgraduate student, Level A academics, Level B academics, Level C academics, Above Level C academics. The vertical axis shows percentage of gender at each level. The category legend has 4 items: 2020 male percentage, 2020 female percentage, 2014 male percentage, 2014 female percentage. Men outnumber women at all levels. There is gender balance at Level A in both years, and at Level B in 2020. The proportion of women peaks at Level A and decreases from Level B onwards. The gender proportions for students were similar across both years, but the gender gap favouring men from Level A onwards became slightly smaller in 2020.

Table: Student enrolments (in headcount and percentage) and academic staff (in full-time equivalents and percentage) in 2014 and 2020, by level and gender, in STEM disciplines. Source: Higher Education Statistics Collection, 2014 and 2020.

2020 2014
Academic Level Male M% Gender X X% Female F% Total Male M% Female F% Total
Undergraduate 187,620 65% 351 0% 100,487 35% 288,458 29,282 64% 16,405 36% 45,687
Postgraduate 82,797 63% 67 0% 47,679 37% 130,543 13,520 65% 7,152 35% 20,672
Level A 309 55% 0 0% 253 45% 562 351 57% 270 43% 621
Level B 1,347 58% 3 0% 962 42% 2,312 1,476 66% 756 34% 2,232
Level C 1,815 70% 1 0% 760 30% 2,576 1,744 72% 662 28% 2,406
Above Level C 3,136 78% 0 0% 866 22% 4,002 2,672 83% 562 17% 3,234
GRAND TOTAL 277,024 65% 422 0% 151,007 35% 428,453 49,045 66% 25,807 34% 74,852

Selected notes on the data

In our tables, “Gender X” refers to staff members or students who have requested their gender to be recorded as neither male nor female.

Due to the small number of Gender X individuals and lack of disaggregated data for Gender X students (see student data notes below), we have included the figures for Gender X in the tables but not the corresponding charts. In future, we hope to provide charts and tables with figures for all genders as better data become available.

Student data

  • Gender representation for students were calculated using 2014 enrolments data from uCube and 2020 student enrolments pivot table. Both data sources were published by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment. The data extracted were enrolment numbers by broad field of education (primary), by broad course level, by year, by gender.
  • Prior to 2020, the Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s count of female students includes students who have requested their gender to be recorded as neither male nor female. Disaggregated data for students who recorded a gender other than male or female is only available from 2020 onwards.
  • Discipline areas are based on Field of Education, as defined by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
  • For the complete data notes, please refer to uCube or the explanatory notes in the pivot table.

Staff data

  • Staff data were extracted from “Full-time Equivalence of Staff by Academic Organisational Groups”, Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Staff Time Series. The data were viewed as full-time equivalents by Academic Organisational Unit (AOU), by current duties classification, by year, by gender. All work contract types (full-time and fractional full-time) and current duties terms (tenurial term, limited term, other term) were included.
  • Discipline areas are based on AOU Groups, as defined by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
  • As these charts were based on AOU staff data, only staff with “teaching only” or a “teaching and research” function are included.
  • While we have not presented the 2014 count of Gender X staff in our tables, these figures are available from the Staff Time Series.
  • For the complete data notes, please refer to “Definitions and Notes” in the Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s Staff Time Series.

Version history

  • The charts and tables on this page were published on 11 August 2023.
  • The version published on 25 May 2021 contained graphs comparing the gender profile by discipline in 2014 and 2019. In that version, the gender profiles for students were calculated using completions data.
  • Prior to 25 May 2021, this page contained graphs of gender profile by discipline in 2014. Please note that the pre-May 2021 graphs were based on a different 2014 data set obtained by request from the Department of Education and Training, and were not identical to the 2014 data nor comparable to the 2020 data shown here.

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