The table illustrates the number of research students at Australian universities, both local and international ones and also their total, while the pie charts compare the percentage of male and female researchers in two terms: local and global in 2001 and 2010.
Overall, it is evident that the total number of research students increased notably throughout the years.While local students remained the majority, their share decreased over time. Additionally, the gender distribution became more balanced in terms of international researchers in 2010, with a higher proportion of female students compared to 2001.
In 2001, the total number of research students was 38,849, with about 87% of them being locals, while the international ones only shared about 13% of the pie chart. The proportion of international male students roughly doubled the female ones, at about 9% and 4% respectively, whereas the gender distribution in the number of local researchers showed negligible differences.
Turning to 2010, the number of research students nearly doubled to 54,081, remaining having a majority in local students despite a decrease of 14% compared to 2001. Notably, the gender distribution became balanced in 2010, with both genders sharing a half of a pie chart. Furthermore, the percentage of female global students surpassed the male ones, reaching at about 15%, while the male’s figure rose to 12%.