The table depicts the number of domestic and international research students in Australian universities in 2001 and 2010, while the accompanying pie charts illustrates the gender distribution among these student for the same years.
Overall, the total number of students increased, with the local students outnumbering their international counterparts in both years. While men represented a larger percentage of research students in 2001, a more balanced gender distribution was observed in 2010.
In 2001, there were 33,657 Australian research students, nearly seven times the number of international students, which was 5,192. By 2010, the number of non-local students had almost tripled to 14,593, yet this figure remained lower than the 39,488 local students.
Regarding gender distribution, in 2001, there was a balance between male and female domestic students, at 44% and 43% respectively. In contrast, a notable disparity was seen among non-local students, with males comprising 9% and females only 4%. Over the decade, the gender gap had slightly widened to 3% in both segments. Specifically, domestic males continued to dominate their female counterparts, at 38% compared to 35%. Despite similar gender difference, a significant shift occurred among international research students, with the proportion of women (15%) surpassing that of men (12%).