Women outpacing men in PhD research

Statistics Netherlands reports that the annual increase of new PhDs has doubled in the past two decades and women are catching up.

In the academic year of 2012/2013, more than four thousand people in the Netherlands got their doctorate - twice as many as 20 years ago. In the past many more men than women obtained a doctorate. This is not true for the younger generation.  51 percent of people who have their doctorates and are between the ages of 30 and 35 are female. In the age group of 25 to 30, 58 percent are women.

Men and women do however get their doctorates in different directions. Almost half of the men received their PhDs in mathematics, science or a technical direction. Slightly less than a quarter of the women studied in those directions. On the other hand women are more likely than men to receive their PhD in health sciences - 40 and 24 percent respectively.