Share of women amongst doctorate holders in the Netherlands
In short
- Since 1991, the proportion of women with a doctorate degree has increased. In 2022, the proportion of women with a doctorate degree is equal to the proportion of males.
- The percentage of women with a PhD has increased in the clusters of scientific fields alpha, beta, gamma and medical.
- In 2022, the medical cluster will be the cluster with the largest share of female PhDs.
What does the share of female PhDs in the Netherlands look like?
| Percentage women | |
| '91 | 17,9 |
| '92 | 19,9 |
| '93 | 19,8 |
| '94 | 23,2 |
| '95 | 23,8 |
| '96 | 27,5 |
| '97 | 27,5 |
| '98 | 29 |
| '99 | 30,1 |
| '00 | 32,5 |
| '01 | 31,6 |
| '02 | 38,6 |
| '03 | 41,1 |
| '04 | 39,5 |
| '05 | 38,1 |
| '06 | 38,7 |
| '07 | 41,8 |
| '08 | 41,7 |
| '09 | 41,6 |
| '10 | 42,1 |
| '11 | 43,8 |
| '12 | 44,9 |
| '13 | 46,2 |
| '14 | 47,3 |
| '15 | 49,1 |
| '16 | 48,7 |
| '17 | 47,9 |
| '18 | 48,1 |
| '19 | 47,4 |
| '20 | 49,7 |
| '21 | 50 |
| '22 | 49,9 |
Analysis
The share of women in the total number of new doctorate holders shows a steady increase over time from 19.9% in 1991 and 30.1% in 1999 to 49.1% in 2015. After years of increase, however, the share drops slightly from 2016 onwards to 47.4% in 2019. In 2020, the percentage has increased again to 49.7%. In 2021, the share of women with a doctorate degree is, for the first time, equal to the share of men with a doctorate degree. But in 2022 it lightly declined to 49.9% in 2022
In which cluster of scientific fields have women obtained their doctorate?
| Humanities | Science | Social | Medical | |
| '91 | 20 | 10,7 | 24,6 | 24 |
| '92 | 25,9 | 12,5 | 26,9 | 25,5 |
| '93 | 26,9 | 12,7 | 26,1 | 25,2 |
| '94 | 35,4 | 16,2 | 27,3 | 27,7 |
| '95 | 31,3 | 17,8 | 27,8 | 28,9 |
| '96 | 36,8 | 17,7 | 35,3 | 35,6 |
| '97 | 31,3 | 19,3 | 31,5 | 37,9 |
| '98 | 31,5 | 17,4 | 34,1 | 43,3 |
| '99 | 37,9 | 22,6 | 32,5 | 37,9 |
| '00 | 42,2 | 24 | 36,7 | 39,4 |
| '01 | 32,6 | 23 | 37,2 | 41,8 |
| '02 | 47 | 25,1 | 36,6 | 45,8 |
| '03 | 41 | 28,5 | 43,4 | 42,2 |
| '04 | 44 | 29,3 | 37,5 | 44 |
| '05 | 46,4 | 27,3 | 43,6 | 49 |
| '06 | 39,6 | 27,3 | 43,6 | 50,8 |
| '07 | 42,9 | 29,8 | 48,6 | 53,1 |
| '08 | 40,9 | 31,4 | 47,1 | 52,2 |
| '09 | 45,9 | 30,5 | 45 | 52,9 |
| '10 | 48,4 | 30,8 | 46,7 | 52,9 |
| '11 | 44,5 | 33,3 | 47,7 | 55 |
| '12 | 39 | 34,2 | 48,9 | 56,8 |
| '13 | 45,2 | 34,5 | 49 | 59,1 |
| '14 | 45 | 34,6 | 53,5 | 59,1 |
| '15 | 47,7 | 35,2 | 53,3 | 62,4 |
| '16 | 46,3 | 35,8 | 51,3 | 62,4 |
| '17 | 45,3 | 36,2 | 51,5 | 58,5 |
| '18 | 48,8 | 34,3 | 53,5 | 59,3 |
| '19 | 45 | 35 | 53,4 | 58,9 |
| '20 | 48,3 | 35,6 | 57,1 | 62,4 |
| '21 | 55,6 | 37,8 | 52 | 60,1 |
| '22 | 50,4 | 34,7 | 53,6 | 62,6 |
Analysis
The increasing trend in the share of female PhD's since 1991 is reflected in all clusters. The medical cluster is in 2022 the cluster with the largest share of female PhD's (62.6%), followed by social studies (53.6%). In 2006, the share of women already surpassed the share of men among new doctorate holders in the medical cluster. Since 2014, over half the PhD degrees in the social sciences is obtained by women. Despite substantial growth since 1991 in the share of PhD's obtained by women in the sciences cluster, the share lags behind.
For an explanation of the used definitions and abbreviations we refer to the webpage Definitions for Science in Figures.
Downloads
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Download factsheet Doctorate holders per gender and field of science
Doctorate holders per gender and field of science
file type xlsx - file size 32.71 KB
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