Strathclyde has expanded in recent years, taking in more students than ever before. In the face of challenges such as Brexit, Covid-19 and union strikes, the university has seen interesting changes in its approach to learning. But how have demographics changed?
Gender
The argument that men are being left behind education is growing louder and louder, with authors such as Richard Reeves exploring how women are outperforming men in most academic disciplines. Strathclyde seems to be following this trend with little signs of it slowing down: the university’s population is increasingly female.
The gender gap has doubled in size over eight years, sitting at around 53 per cent female students and 47 per cent male in the 2022/23 academic year. When the data is filtered to exclusively account for full-time students, however, a different trend is seen.
With full-time students, the gender distribution is now around the 50/50 mark. This demonstrates that most part-time students are female. Strathclyde is clearly a well-balanced university when it comes to gender, which is desirable to many students.
Permanent Address
The number of Strathclyde students has expanded, with the latest data showing that around 24,860 people attend the university. This is an increase of more than 17 per cent in eight years, showing the rising demand in higher education. A spike in Students from outside of Scotland can be seen over the past ten years.
The university campus now has more students with a non-domestic permanent address, with the only exception to this trend being the EU – likely a consequence of Brexit. The population of international students has doubled.
It has been argued that this kind of distribution has become more common as universities are increasingly relying on international students to cover costs. Notably, Scottish students can have their first undergraduate degree fully-funded by the government, compared to the rest of the UK where students pay £9,250 per year, and international students who’s fees range from £19,850-£29,350. This economic incentive suggests that there will be less space for Scottish students, as they pay the lowest fee.
Scottish students are on the decline, making up roughly 70 per cent of the university’s population in 2023. Non-EU students make over 20 per cent of the population in – an increase from around 10 percent over eight years.
More diversity in the student population should be welcome, but it appears that there are less and less spaces for domestic students at the university, Even though the university now has a higher student intake, the number of Scottish students is at its lowest since the 2014/15 academic session.
Data supplied by HESA.
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