The two pie charts give information about the domestic and overseas research students in Australian colleges during 2001 and 2010, respectively.
Overall, during the nine-year period, the total number of students in Australian universities rose significantly. However, local students continued to have a dominant presence as compared to their international counterparts. In the beginning, the proportion of male students surpassed that of female students. Although, towards the end, both genders were in equal proportion.
Back in 2001, local male research students occupied the highest share in university, followed by local female students. Conversely, overseas male students represented a bigger proportion as compared to the female students. This indicates the male population had a stronghold position in the universities.
In 2010, domestic male and female students only had a 3-percentage-point difference between them, with the males having the higher proportion. Among international students, the share of women outpaced that of men by 3%. This indicates there was a stark increase in female numbers towards the end.
Between 2001 to 2010, the trend shows that international student numbers have reported a 15-percentage-point gain while local students witnessed a drop of the same.