Degrees at Full Speed: Women Leave Men Behind

Women and girls often hide their light under a bushel and have less confidence in themselves than similarly qualified men and boys. At least when it comes to academic graduation rates at the bachelor's level, there is no reason for this, as recently published figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) suggest.

One in Three Students Earns a Bachelor's Degree Within Eight Semesters
According to the data, nearly one in three (30%) of the total 515,700 individuals who began a bachelor's degree program at a German university in the 2019 academic year successfully completed their studies within eight semesters. Destatis reports that the graduation rate among female bachelor’s students was significantly higher at 36%, compared to 25% for their male counterparts in the same academic year. The observation period extended from the 2019 summer semester to the 2019/2020 winter semester.

Semesters Abroad, Internships, and Jobs Not Included
The graduation rates, calculated for the first time by the Federal Statistical Office based on study progress statistics, show how many people complete a degree successfully within a certain timeframe. This period begins with the start of the degree program and is based on typical standard durations of study.

Individual study interruptions - such as semesters abroad, internships, or jobs - are not taken into account. That means the observation period remains fixed, even if a student takes a break. One clear takeaway: most students do eventually finish - the longer the observation period, the higher the graduation rate. However, many students need more than eight semesters to successfully complete their studies.

Economics Students Are Particularly Driven
Students in the subject group “Law, Economics, and Social Sciences” appear to be especially goal-oriented. Among bachelor’s students in this group who started in 2019, an impressive 39% had graduated after eight semesters. In the “Humanities” group, only 22% finished that quickly.

Overall, women tend to complete their studies faster than men. Across all subject groups, female bachelor’s students from the 2019 cohort had higher graduation rates within eight semesters than their male peers. In the “Humanities” group, the gap between women (27%) and men (12%) was particularly large; the smallest difference was in the “Engineering” group (women 26%, men 22%).

Women Also Complete Master’s Degrees Faster than Men
Master’s programs typically have a shorter standard duration than bachelor’s programs, usually six semesters. Among the 206,200 students who started a master's degree in 2019, the graduation rate after six semesters was 51%.

Again, women finished faster on average than men, though the gap was smaller than in bachelor’s programs. The graduation rate for female master’s students from the 2019 cohort was 54%, compared to 49% for their male counterparts.

Women can look ahead to their professional careers with greater confidence — they are often more focused and tend to complete their studies more quickly than their male peers.

Source: dts news agency

Related articles: