University classrooms in the Canary Islands are seeing more and more women who decide to train in the field of Engineering and Architecture.
This is one of the conclusions of the updated report ‘Women and Science in the Canary Islands 2017-2024’ published by the Department of Universities, Science and Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands through the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society (ACIISI), which examines the evolution of the female presence in university studies in STEM areas in the Archipelago.
In this installment, the analysis focuses on Engineering and Architecture, including bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral theses at public and private universities in the Canary Islands. This data quantifies the regional situation of women and girls in science by the ACIISI and has been analyzed by the Canary Islands R&D&I Observatory (OBIDIC) and the Canary Islands Observatory of Telecommunications and the Information Society (OCTSI), instruments for analyzing and monitoring the impact of the strategies and measures to be implemented in terms of equality in science.
According to data from the last five academic years (2019-2024), the number of women enrolled in a Degree in these fields went from 1,314 in the 2019-2020 academic year to 1,615 in 2023-2024, which represents an increase of almost 23% in absolute values.
In relative terms, female participation has remained stable, fluctuating between 24% and 27% of the total enrollment in these disciplines. In addition, the last course recorded the biggest jump in five years, with 233 new female students.
If the weight of these students is analyzed within the University as a whole, women in Engineering and Architecture represent 6.9% of the total female enrollment, compared to 28% of men who opt for these fields.
Compared to the national average, the percentage of women who choose to study Engineering or Architecture in the Canary Islands is two points below the national average (26% in the Canary Islands compared to 28% in Spain).
In the realm of female graduates, the data shows an opposing trend. The percentage of women who complete a Degree in Engineering or Architecture decreased from 29% in the 2017-2018 academic year to 26% in 2022-2023, with a significant decrease in absolute values: from 238 to 166 female graduates.
At the state level, the percentage of female participation in these degrees remains more stable, standing at 27% in the last academic year analyzed, slightly above the figure for the Canary Islands.
In the field of research, the latest available data also reveals a decline. In 2022, only one woman defended her doctoral thesis in Engineering, Industry, and Construction in the Canary Islands, representing 31% of the total theses defended in that area. This figure contrasts with 2021, when 11 female theses were recorded (42% of the total).
In contrast, at the state level, a positive evolution is observed, with sustained growth in recent years: from 209 doctoral theses read by women in 2020 to 420 in 2022, almost reaching the maximum for the period (469 in 2017).