Department of Education, Science and Training

Women have a long history of under-representation in the higher education sector and did not achieve some sort of parity with men in terms of their access to higher education until the mid 1980s. Against this historic background of entrenched disadvantage, women were formally identified as an equity group in 1990 and specific targets were established with a view to improving their representation in non-traditional fields of study and postgraduate courses by 1995 (DEETYA, 1990).

A detailed analysis of undergraduate women’s patterns of participation in non-traditional fields between 1989 and 1993 (Cobbin, 1995) subsequently revealed some important gains for women in higher education but also pointed to persistent inequalities. Cobbin noted, for example, that the growth rate for women participating in non-traditional fields across the period was higher than the corresponding figure in traditional fields, and anticipated this trend would continue in the future. The underlying explanation for this improvement, however, represented something of a double-edged sword, with Cobbin citing increasing retention rates as the primary cause and noting a lack of progress in access rates at the same time.

Cobbin (1995) further reported that female representation in numerous non-traditional fields of study (broad/major/minor) had steadily increased to the point that it was not uncommon to find participation levels of 30% and above by 1993. There were, however, some notable exceptions and in seeking to explain these, Cobbin identified course content and entry prerequisites as potentially constraining factors. Variable levels of participation for women in the fields of Mathematics and Computer Science, for example, were linked to the emphasis courses in the former accorded to computer science and those in the latter accorded to electrical/electronic engineering. Similar factors appeared also to influence representation patterns in the Engineering field, with low levels of female participation being most evident in those major and minor fields that heavily emphasised physics. In this context, Cobbin’s analysis showed that female participation rates either approximated or exceeded the 15% threshold in only a handful of minor fields and that these, collectively, accounted for less than a quarter of all students enrolled in the Engineering broad field of study in 1993.

When the national equity framework was reviewed several years later, the National Board of Employment, Education and Training (NBEET, 1996) observed that although the gender balance in the non-traditional broad fields of study had visibly improved between 1991 and 1995, women had not yet attained an equitable share of enrolments. Indeed, the Board emphasised that women continued to be significantly under-represented in all five non-traditional fields of study.⁶ The Board further remarked on the evident variability amongst institutions in terms of their progress toward threshold targets and ultimately concluded it would be premature to reconsider women’s status as a designated equity group before the year 2000.

In keeping with current policy, then, a key aim of the present study was to examine access and participation rates for women in degree-level combined courses that encompassed at least one non-traditional field of study. A second, more general aim was to present an overall picture of combined course gender enrolment patterns across all fields of study. Accordingly, the discussion below initially focuses on the general characteristics of the combined course student population before moving to consider women’s combined course enrolments patterns in non-traditional fields.

3.1 Characteristics of the combined course student population

A total of 37,155 students (domestic Australian and overseas) were enrolled in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level in 1997. Combined course student enrolments grew by 8% in the following year and, in 1999, a growth rate of 21.5% took the total number of students in such courses to 49,091.⁷ By 1999, then, combined course students comprised 9.6% of all students enrolled in the sector at the bachelor (honours/pass) level.

Consistent with enrolment patterns in the wider student population, the number of females participating in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level constantly exceeded the number of males during the 1997-1999 period. Female students’ actual share of combined course enrolments also increased slightly in this time, moving from 54% to 55%.

Interestingly, annual growth rates for overseas students exceeded those of the total combined course student population in both 1998 and 1999, but their overall share of enrolments remained a stable 3%. Within the overseas cohort, the number of females enrolled in combined courses was always lower than the number of males, despite a noticeable improvement in their percentage share of enrolments between 1998 and 1999. By 1999, there were a total of 1,641 overseas students participating in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level, of whom 44% were female and 56% were male.

The profile of the commencing combined course student population generally approximated that of the total combined course population. Overall, the number of students commencing combined courses of study at the bachelor (honours/pass) level climbed steadily from 13,771 students (6,120 males and 7,651 females) in 1997 to 16,094 in 1999 (7,051 males and 9,043 females). Female enrolments grew somewhat more quickly than male enrolments during the 1997-1999 period, but each gender’s relative share of commencing enrolments nonetheless remained quite steady (averaging 56% for females and 44% for males). In 1999, 15.3% of all students who commenced at the bachelor (honours/pass) level in the sector entered a combined course of study.

Overseas students accounted for approximately 3.4% of all combined course commencements in 1997 (473 students) and 4.2% in 1999 (680 students). In every year, males have been in the majority but, more recently, females from overseas have been attracted into bachelor-level combined courses in larger numbers. In 1999, 47.5% of overseas commencing students in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level were female.

Clearly, domestic Australian students account for the vast majority of all combined course enrolments at the bachelor (honours/pass) level and, in view of this, several other characteristics of this group are discussed below.

3.1.1 Age

In general, domestic Australian combined course students are young. In 1997, for example, 54% were aged 19 and under and 39% were aged 20-24, while in 1999, the same two categories accounted for 48% and 43% respectively. Several other age-related patterns can also be discerned in the domestic Australian combined course student population across the 1997-1999 period. First, whilst the number of males participating in combined courses declined in a linear fashion with age, female enrolments in the 30-39 age bracket were constantly higher than those in the 25-29 bracket. Second, males aged 25-29 had a higher percentage share of combined course enrolments than females in all three years. And third, whilst the number of combined course students aged 60 or more was invariably small (8-10 students per year), males typically accounted for the majority of enrolments in this bracket also. The latter two between-gender trends are evident in Figure 4, which depicts each gender’s share of enrolments across all age brackets in 1999.

3.1.2 Mode of study

The vast majority of domestic Australian students participating in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level are also full time students. In 1999, for example, approximately 88% of all combined course students were enrolled on a full-time basis, 10% were enrolled part-time and 2% were in external mode. Comparatively more females were enrolled in part-time study mode and more males in external mode.

3.1.3 Fee paying status

On average, 75% of domestic Australian students in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level pay HECS fees. Although comparatively more females pay HECS, and more males opt to pay up-front fees, such differences were not large. The percentage of students exempted from paying fees for their combined courses has steadily increased since 1997 but remains small: in 1999, for example, 2.2% of all domestic Australian females in combined courses were exempted from paying fees, as were 2.5% of all males.

3.2 Women’s access to combined courses

The 1999 combined course access indicators for women in the five non-traditional broad fields of study at the bachelor (honours/pass) level are recorded in Table 1. To facilitate comparisons, Table 1 also records the access indicators for women in the same five fields across all course levels in 1997, along with relevant 1999 indicators for women at the bachelor (honours/pass) level generally.

Broad field of study	All levels 1997	Bachelor level 1999	Bachelor level (combined) 1999
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry	40.1	42.9	40.0
Architecture, Building	36.7	40.1	42.2
Business, Administration, Economics	46.8	53.1	51.6
Engineering, Surveying	14.5	14.9	20.9
Science	42.3	41.8	43.6
Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences		70.0
Education		78.0
Health		77.4
Law, Legal Studies		60.4

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The access indicators for female students in combined courses in all major fields of study at the bachelor (honours/pass) level are reported in Tables 2a (below) and 2b (refer end of section 3.2). Table 2a provides a general overview of the 1999 combined course commencement data in major fields that are covered by a limited number of institutions. Table 2b provides a more comprehensive picture of commencing student enrolment patterns in combined courses at the bachelor level in all other major fields of study during the 1997-1999 period. When perusing Tables 2a and 2b, it should be borne in mind that combined course enrolment totals in the various fields of study are being reported, not student totals.⁸ Actual combined course (domestic Australian) student totals for all institutions in 1999 are presented, however, at the end of Table 2b. Relevant summary details for overseas students, including student totals, will also be found in Table 2b.

Whilst the following discussion focuses attention on women’s access to bachelor level combined courses that encompass at least one non-traditional major field of study, the tables in this section will also clearly facilitate an exploration of gendered enrolment patterns in combined courses within other major fields of study.

3.2.1 Agriculture, Animal Husbandry

A total of 45 commencing enrolments in combined courses were recorded at the bachelor (honours/pass) level in this broad field of study in 1999, compared with 59 in 1997. The majority of these (39) were in the major field of Agriculture, and the 1999 national access rate for women in combined courses in this field (41%) exceeded the threshold target. At the University of Melbourne, which attracted the bulk of combined course commencers in this field, the access rate in 1999 was 37%.

Enrolments in combined courses encompassing the Agriculture, Animal Husbandry - General and Animal Husbandry major fields were very low and, as indicated in Table 2a, the access rate for women in both fields was 33%. In 1999, no combined course enrolments were recorded in the major field of Agricultural Management.

3.2.2 Architecture, Building

Between 1997 and 1999, commencing enrolments in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level in this broad field averaged 47. In the main, these enrolments occurred at Deakin University where they were coded to the major fields of Architecture, Building General and Building. In 1999, this institution’s combined course access rate for women in both of these fields was 39%. Additionally, the University of Technology, Sydney recorded small enrolments in combined courses encompassing the major fields of Architecture and Building in 1999.

Overall, as Table 2a shows, women’s access to combined courses in the major fields of Architecture, Building - General (39%) and Building fields (39%) sat just below the threshold target of 40%, whilst their access to combined courses in the major field of Architecture was well above (75%). Enrolments in this latter field, however, totalled 4.

3.2.3 Business, Administration, Economics

Commencing enrolments in combined courses in the broad field of Business grew from a base of 5,635 in 1997 to 7,033 in 1999. The major field of Business, Administration accounted for the majority of such enrolments and, in all three years, the rate of access for women in this field was at least 50% (see Table 2b, page 19). Comparable access rates were achieved in the Business, Administration, Economics - General major field where interest in combined courses was also high. Significantly, the national combined course access rates for these two major fields in 1999 (52.5% and 52.4% respectively) compare favourably with that for all women commencers at the bachelor level in the broad field of Business that same year (refer Table 1).

All 1999 state/territory access values for combined courses in the major fields of Business, Administration and Business, Administration, Economics - General exceeded the 40% threshold target, as did the values for most institutions offering such courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level. Furthermore, at the institutional level, it was apparent that a low access rate in one of these major fields was sometimes counterbalanced by a high access rate in the other (see, for example, the University of Newcastle, the University of Melbourne and the University of Southern Queensland in Table 2b, page 19).

Between 1997 and 1999, the major field of Economics attracted approximately 10% of all combined course enrolments in the broad field of Business and, nationally, women’s percentage share of these consistently exceeded 40%.

However, at the state/territory level in 1999, performance against the threshold target in the major field of Economics was quite variable, as the access rates for New South Wales (49%) and Victoria (34%) attest. Institutions with high percentages of women commencing combined courses that encompassed Economics included the University of Sydney (81%), the University of New South Wales (54%), the University of Canberra (54%) and the University of Western Australia (48%). Monash University, which had comparatively high enrolments in combined courses in the major field of Economics (a total of 101), had a low access rate of 33%.

3.2.4 Engineering, Surveying

In the main, combined course commencements at the bachelor (honours/pass) level in the broad field of Engineering were coded to the major field of Engineering and, here, national access rates for women were surprisingly high (see Table 2b, page 21). Indeed, at the national level, women’s access to combined courses in this field sat well above the 15% threshold target throughout the 1997-1999 period. It is also noteworthy that the 1999 access rate for women in combined courses (20%) was substantially higher than the rate for all women who commenced at the bachelor level in the broad field of Engineering that same year (see Table 1).

In 1999, Victoria had the highest access rate for women in combined courses encompassing the major field of Engineering (24%), followed by Western Australia (20%) and New South Wales (19%). Access rates for women in South Australia (13%), the Australian Capital Territory (13%) and Queensland (10%) were below the threshold target and, furthermore, appeared to be on the decline.

Amongst those institutions offering combined courses in the Engineering major field, the University of New South Wales (34%), the University of Melbourne (28%), the University of Sydney (24%) and the University of Western Australia (22%) had particularly high levels of access relative to the threshold target of 15%. The University of Adelaide (33%) also had high access for women in bachelor level combined courses in the major field of Engineering, but total enrolments were very low (12). Access for women at the University of Technology, Sydney, which had the highest number of commencing enrolments in the field (565), was 14%.

Apparently, few institutions offer combined courses that encompass either the Engineering, Surveying - General or Surveying major fields. In 1999, for example, only 40 commencing enrolments in combined courses were recorded in the first field and 33 in the second. The majority of students who commenced studies in the Engineering, Surveying - General field did so at either the University of South Australia, or James Cook University, and access rates for women were 13% and 8% respectively.

In the major field of Surveying, women’s access to combined courses improved steadily between 1997 and 1999 although, as previously noted, enrolments were low (see Table 2b, page 22). Nationally, women’s access to bachelor level combined courses encompassing this field was 42% in 1999. At the University of Melbourne (total enrolments of 19) the access rate was 58%.⁹

3.2.5 Science

Combined course commencements at the bachelor (honours/pass) level in this broad field were most frequently coded to the Science - General major field and, nationally, women’s access in this field across the 1997-1999 period was a stable 51% (refer Table 2b, page 24). In 1999, access was highest for women in the Australian Capital Territory (60%) and above the 40% threshold target in all states/territories with the exception of Western Australia (36%). Amongst institutions, women’s access to combined courses that encompassed the Science - General major field in 1999 ranged from 29% at Griffith University and James Cook University, where enrolments totalled 38 and 21 respectively, to 73% at Murdoch University (enrolment total of 15). Access at the University of Melbourne, where enrolments were much higher (439) was 46%, and at Monash University (248) it was 52%.

Across the study period, approximately one quarter of all combined course commencements in the broad field of Science were coded to the major field of Computer Science, Information Systems. The national access rate for women in combined courses encompassing this field at the bachelor (honours/pass) level stood at 23% in 1997 (compared with a rate of 18% across all course levels), rose to 30% in 1998 and then moved down to 26% in 1999. Thus in 1999, access for women in combined courses in the field of Computer Science, Information Systems was still well below the threshold target of 40%.

At the state/territory level in 1999, access rates to bachelor level combined courses in the major field of Computer Science, Information Systems were, in all instances, below target, varying from a low of 9% in Western Australia to 31% in New South Wales (refer Table 2b, page 24). Combined course access for women approached the threshold target at Monash University (38%) and the University of South Australia (37%), and was also relatively high at La Trobe University (34%). Amongst institutions with small enrolments, access exceeded the 40% target at the University of Queensland (63%), the University of Technology, Sydney (56%), James Cook University (50%) and Macquarie University (50%).

As might be expected, women had high access to combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level in the major field of Life, General Sciences. In 1999, the majority of commencers in this field were located within Queensland and the access rate for combined courses in this state was 55%. From Table 2b (page 25), it is further evident that access for women in combined courses in the Life, General Sciences field declined in New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia over the 1997-1999 period, but increased significantly in Victoria. South Australia, which had low enrolments in bachelor level courses that encompassed Life, General Sciences (21), was the only state where access was below the 40% threshold target in 1999 (14%). Only two institutions had low access for women in combined courses in the Life, General Science major field and these were the University of Melbourne (37%) and the University of South Australia (14%).

Whilst comparatively small (eg. 149 in 1997 and 242 in 1999), commencements in combined courses at the bachelor (honours/pass) level that encompass the major field of Mathematics appear to be on the increase. Despite this growth, however, women’s access to such courses within the field remained stable in the 1997-1999 period (36%-37%). Institutions offering bachelor level courses that combine studies in this field were primarily located in New South Wales, and the 1999 access rate for women in this state (44%) not only exceeded the 40% threshold target but also the access rate for all women commencers at the bachelor level in the broad field of Science in 1999 (see Table 1).

Women’s access at Macquarie University, which accounted for the majority of combined course commencements in the field of Mathematics in 1999 (126), was 41%. Very high access rates were further evident at the University of New England (75%), the University of Technology, Sydney (75%) and the University of New South Wales (63%), although these institutions all attracted limited enrolments in combined courses in 1999.

Finally, whilst the major field of Physical Sciences (see Table 2b, page26) has typically attracted far fewer bachelor level combined course students than all other major Science fields, interest is clearly growing. Nationally, access for women in the major field of Physical Sciences improved from 21% in 1997 to 24% in 1999 but it obviously remains substantially below the 40% threshold target. At the state/territory level in 1999, New South Wales’ access rate for women in bachelor level combined courses encompassing Physical Sciences approached the target (39%) and there was a noticeable improvement in access for women within Western Australia (24%). Only two of the nine institutions offering bachelor level courses that combine studies in the major field of Physical Sciences had high access rates for women in 1999: Macquarie University (67%), with a total of 12 enrolments, and the University of New South Wales (43%) with a total of 7 enrolments. Combined course enrolments in the major field of Physical Sciences at the bachelor (honours/pass) level were highest at the Curtin University of Technology (57) and the rate of access for women here was 25%.

⁷ Had Macquarie University’s 1998 data been available, it is estimated that growth rates of approximately 12% (1998) and 16% (1999) would have been recorded.

⁸ Because each side of a student’s combined course is typically coded to two different major fields of study (ie. the student is counted twice), combined course enrolment totals across fields of study will not tally with actual student enrolment totals. It should also be noted that within any one field of study, students whose combined courses have been coded to the same field of study are treated in the same manner as those undertaking single degrees (ie. they are only counted once).

⁹ Cobbin (1994, p. 136) has previously noted this institution’s success in attracting women into degrees that combine surveying with science.

Combined Courses of Study

Equity group access and participation at the bachelor (honours/pass) level

3. Women in combined courses