The table and pie charts describe the engagement of students in research fields in Australian universities between 2001 and 2010.
Overall, the number of local research students outnumbered their international counterparts over two given years. Australian universities also saw the rise of the number of students throughout the period with the domination of local students.
According to the graph, there were nearly 34000 local students who took part in research in 2001, it kept increasing until 2010 and reached at roughly 40000 students. The reverse was true with international students. It commenced at 5192 students and subsequently arrived at over 14000 in 2010, which is around 3 times higher than that of the previous nine years. In total, Australian universities saw a considerable growth over ten years when experiencing a gap of 15000 students, increasing from over 38000 students to about 54000 students,
In terms of gender, the total local research students accounted for the majority of the figure. The number of male and female local students was relatively balanced, at 44% and 43%, respectively. However, for the following 10 years, the figures declined by 10% to 73% in total, but it still holds the biggest position. Among international students, it made up for just 13% with 9% of males and 4% of females in 2001. By 2010, the figures of foreign students saw a significant rise to 12% males and 15% females, which comprised over a quarter of total students.