The chart shows the number of male and female students studying engineering at Australian universities in 1992, 2002, and 2012.
In 1992, around 14,000 men studied engineering, compared to only about 2,000 women. This large gender gap continued over the next 20 years. By 2002, the number of male students stayed almost the same, at around 14,000, but the number of female students doubled to about 4,000. In 2012, the number of male students remained steady at nearly 14,000, while the number of female students increased significantly to around 6,000.
Although the number of male students remained stable, the number of female students steadily grew over the years. However, even by 2012, the number of male students was still more than twice that of female students.
In summary, the chart shows two main trends: men have consistently dominated engineering studies, while women’s participation, though still smaller, has steadily increased, leading to a narrowing gender gap over time.