The number of women studying computing degrees in higher education is growing, but still not close to full gender parity, new data has found.

About a quarter (25.3%) of students studying computing degrees in the UK during the 2023/2024 school year are now women, an over 5% rise since the 2019/2020 year.

Data from Higher Education Students Statistics shows a year-on-year consistent increase in the amount of women studying computing degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

For undergraduates, the balance between males and females studying computing degrees has seen a slight improvement.

In the academic year 2019/20, 18.2% of those studying engineering and technology were female. Fast forward to 2023/24, this number climbed to 19.8%.

Computing studies have shown more of an improvement, with women making up 21% of undergraduates, a 4% improvement from 17.1% in 2019.

Over the past five years, there has also been an increase in parity between women and men postgraduate students studying computing and other STEM degrees.

Engineering and technology degrees have seen just a 2% increase in female postgraduates – from 25.4% to 27.3% –  equating to just over 3,000 more female students.

Postgraduate students with computing degrees have also risen more than 5% over the past five years – from 29.3% to 34.4% – a growth of 12,000 women.

GoDeploy, which conducted the study, also looked at ONS data to determine if the changes in computing degree gender equality has trickled into the tech workforce.

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In the UK, they found that over 70% of the IT workforce is made up of men. Over the past five years, the stats show that the industry has gained about 1.7 million more male workers, compared to just 300,000 more women over the same period.

Since 2019, the IT industry has seen only marginal – less than a full percentage point – changes in the amount of men versus women in the industry.

While more women are electing to study engineering and computing degrees, this has yet to translate into workplace parity.

Still, as women only make up a quarter of those studying computing, an equal gender split in the industry still seems far off.

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