Gender Diversity in Engineering Graduate Studies

Representation of women in engineering graduate school demands attention, which we examined using institutional datasets in a medium-sized research-intensive Canadian university. The proportion of women increased in our PhD programs, but around 2018/19 started to decrease in our MEng and MASc programs, in part due to a new MEng program. The proportion of applications from women visa students remained steady, but domestic student applications dropped from a peak of 30% in 2019 to approximately 25% women in 2022. Within our own institution, women were slightly more likely to apply to continue from undergraduate to graduate programs than men. Women were slightly more likely to be accepted, though women had slightly higher GPAs than men applicants. Offer acceptance and registration were not gendered, nor were withdrawals or leaves of absence. Increased attention should be paid to recruiting Canadian women to graduate school.