Cyprus had 7800 tertiary education graduates in 2014, 43.3% of whom majored in Law, Social Sciences and Business, according to data released today by Eurostat. Another 19.1% majored in education, 10.3% in engineering and construction, 7.7% in health and welfare, 7.3% in humanities and 6.3% in Science, maths and computers.
Almost 5 million tertiary education students graduated in the European Union (EU) in 2014: 58% were women and 42% men. Male dominated education fields are Engineering, manufacturing and construction (where men account for 73% of the graduates in this field) and Science, mathematics and computing (58%). On the other hand, four out of five graduates in Education are women (80%). Another field where women are largely over-represented is Health and welfare, with 75% female graduates.
The largest share of graduates in all Member States studied Social science, business and law. In Bulgaria, this field was followed by nearly half of all graduates (49%). It accounted for a large share also in Luxembourg (46%), Cyprus (44%) and Lithuania (43%).
One in five graduates in Romania, Austria, Finland (all 21%) and Germany (20%) received their diplomas in Engineering, manufacturing and construction. The share of graduates in Health and welfare was particularly high in Belgium (25%), where one in four graduates was in this field, and exceeded 20% also in in Sweden (23%), Denmark (21%) and Finland (20%). Humanities and arts were popular in the United Kingdom and Italy (both 16%). In the United Kingdom, 17% graduated in Science, mathematics and computing. This field had a relatively large share also in Malta (15%) and Germany (14%). By far the largest share of Education graduates was in Luxembourg (26%).
In all Member States, there were more women among tertiary education graduates than men (58% of graduates were women at EU level). The share of female graduates was particularly high in Estonia and Poland (both 66%). The most balanced gender distribution was observed in Germany (51%) and Ireland (52%). Engineering, manufacturing, and construction is clearly dominated by men at the EU level (73% of the graduates in this field are men) and in all the Member States.
The share of male graduates in this field ranged from 61% in Poland to 85% in Ireland. Science, mathematics and computing is another male field in most Member States – apart from Romania (41% of the graduates in this field are men), Portugal (43%), Cyprus (46%), Italy (47%) and Bulgaria (50%).
The highest share of male graduates in Science, mathematics and computing was in Netherlands (73%), well above the EU level (58%). Women are over-represented in Education in all the Member States – their share in this field in the EU was 80% and ranged from 62% in Luxembourg to 97% in Romania. Also in Health and welfare, female graduates dominated both on the EU level (75%) and in all the Member States, with the highest share in Estonia (90%) and the lowest in Cyprus (65%).
CNA/THA/MM/2016
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY