Gender differences in the profile of new students at the Universitat d'Andorra. An evolution of the last decade

Abstract

This article analyses the profile of the student at the moment to start the first year of a bachelor face-to-face degree at the Universitat d'Andorra and its evolution over the years, from the 2012-2013 academic year to the present (2022-2023), making special emphasis on gender perspective.

The data used in this work become from a questionnaire about the academic and family profile, and a test of mathematical reasoning, to the students analysed. We obtained a sample of 924 students from a population of 1119.For the analysis of relationships between variables, as distributions are not normal, we used the non-parametric Man-Whitney U test to study the relationship between gender and numerical variables and the Chi-square statistic for relationships between factors.Every year significant differences are observed between gender and different variables, such as the entrance scores (being higher for women) and the qualification obtained in the mathematical reasoning test (being in this case higher for men). At the same time, results show that the gradient between both qualifications increases over the years, and that, while the entrance score increases for both men and women, the qualification obtained on the mathematical reasoning test follows the opposite trend. Finally, another evidence shown in this work is the high level of feminization of nursing and education studies, contrary to what happens with computer science studies. Given the repercussion that this gender segregation in university studies may have on the professional future of students in terms of consolidation of the wage gap between men and women, it is important to act on policies that manage to break this segregation in the academic environment.

Keywords: gender differences, gender gap, STEM, stereotypes, university studies, feminization.