The table and pie charts present the number of local and international research students at Australian colleges and the percentage of male and female students in each sector in two years, 2001 and 2010.
Overall, although local research students occupied the greater percentage of research students in Australia, there were upward trends in the number of both local and foreign students. In addition, the proportion of foreign female students involving doing research saw a significant rise from 2001 to 2010.
In 2001, 33657 local students did research, sharing 87%, while that of international students was just one sixth, at 13%. By 2010, local student numbers rose to just below 40000; meanwhile, international student numbers increase significantly to nearly 15000, occupied one third of the total research students.
Local male and female students had the same percentages in 2001, at around 43%, while the percentage of foreign male students was bigger than that of female ones, at 9% and 4% respectively. However, over the next decade, international female student numbers grew rapidly, reaching 15%, being greater than that of male, at 12%. Local male and female students still remained almost the same value, 38% and 35% respectively.