Abstract:

Higher education plays an essential role in a society – fosters innovation and encourages economic growth thus contributing to welfare of its citizens. At the same time, education is one of the foundations of social system stratification. In Polish society, after the systemic changes which were commenced in the 1980s, there was a pressing need for better education in the context of future prospects of lucrative employment. The introduction of market economy in Poland resulted in a major shift in labour market priorities – higher education started to be highly valued, which meant better job offers and larger salaries. The last decade of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century is the period that was marked by a considerable increase in the number of university students and graduates. However, since 2011 (when the number of university graduates reached its peak) there has been recorded continuous decrease in the number of university graduates, both male and female, mainly attributed to demographic decline. However, the decline dynamics varies depending on the type of university or major subject. The changes were also observed in the percentages of female students graduating from specific major subjects. Female students’ decisions made in the sphere of university education and their choices of major subjects are determined by social expectations and stereotypes, associating them with humanities, pedagogy or art rather than mathematics, engineering or natural sciences. In the paper the proportions of female graduates were analysed in relation to total number of graduates from selected majors in the period between 2002 and 2016. The analysis included groups of major subjects in the field of education, engineering and engineering trades, information and communication technology and agriculture. On the bases of the conducted analyses (the data were collected from the website https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/BDL/dane/podgrup/temat) there were proposed regression models with linear or polynomial trends describing the course of the phenomenon. The proportion of women graduating from such major subjects as education and engineering and engineering trends increased in the 15 years selected for this study. In the case of information and communication technology the initial decrease was replaced by a visible rise in the last 5 years of the analysed period, still it did not reach the level from 2002 (18.85%). The proportion of female graduates from agricultural major subjects remained on a stable level of 50-60%. The regression models were used in forecasting the percentages of female students graduating from the analysed major subjects.

Keywords:

Higher education, proportion of female graduates, regression model.