The table illustrates the number of research students, both local and international, in Australian universities in 2001 and 2010 , whereas the pie chart compares the percentages and genders of local and non-local research students.
Overall, the total number of those doing research was higher in 2010 than in 2001. The proportion of non-local female students increased significantly in 2010 compared with 2001.
In 2001, over 33,000 local and over 5,000 international students were carrying out research in Australian universities. While in 2010 the figure for local researchers rose to over 39,000, the number of international research students increased even more dramatically to almost 15,000. The total number of researchers therefore went up by more than 15,000 in 2010 compared with 2001, to reach a figure of over 54,000.
The percentage of international research students in 2010 was more than double the figure for 2001, Although the total proportion of local male and female students doing research fell from 87% in 2001 to 73% in 2010, in contrast the percentage of non-local female research students rose from 4% in 2001 to 15% in 2010 and the proportion of non-local male students conducting research increased from 9% to 12%.