The table illustrates how many local and foreign research students studied at universities in Australia in the years 2001 and 2010, while the pie charts show the proportions of gender among those same students.
Overall, there was an increase in the total number of research students in Australian universities, with local students far outnumbering their non-local counterparts in both years. Despite this, the former’s share decreased as international enrollments rose. Additionally, the gender distribution remained relatively balanced.
In 2001, Australian colleges had 33,657 domestic and 5,192 international students engaged in research, totaling 38,849. By 2010, local student numbers had risen slightly to 39,488, while that of international students had almost tripled to 14,593, bringing the total number to 54,081.
In terms of gender distribution, in 2001, local research students made up 87% of the total, with almost equal percentages across both sexes. Their international counterparts, split between 9% male and 4% female, accounted for the remaining 13%. By 2010, the proportion of domestic research students had declined to 73%, yet the gender gap widened slightly, with males and females representing 38% and 35% respectively. This fall corresponded with a two-fold rise in the percentage of foreign research students, reaching 27%, where females (15%) surpassed males (12%).