Polish Graduate tracking system - articles

Women still a minority in technical fields.

Students working on a mock-up project.

The ELA system has shown that men are still more likely than women to find a job (hired employment or self-employment) after graduation. The source of these differences can be sought among graduates of technical universities and colleges (the differences disappear if we eliminate technology and engineering from the list). The highest percentage of women in technology and engineering can be found among biotechnology graduates (79%) and architecture and urban planning graduates (73%), whereas the lowest percentage can be found among automation, robotics and electronics graduates (5%).

Does this mean that there is discrimination against women in technical occupations? Not necessarily. It turns out that technology and engineering disciplines are highly varied in terms of popularity among women and the labour market performance of graduates.

In the technical sciences, the proportion of women employed is higher than that of men only in transport (75% of women, 73% of men, 33% of graduates are women). Geodesy and cartography, on the other hand, have equal percentages of those employed: 62% for each sex. However, as many as 55% of graduates here are women.

In the case of women-dominated areas, the level of employability is generally lower (percentage of months worked under a contract of employment or under self-employment) among both men and women. For men-dominated fields, the share of graduates in employment is highest of all.

Quarter after graduation

Percentage of those employed (hired employment or self-employment)

Total graduates

After exclusion of technical sciences

Men

Women

Men

Women

Q1

59%

54%

54%

54%

Q2

67%

62%

62%

62%

Q3

71%

67%

67%

67%

Q4

74%

69%

70%

69%

Q5

77%

73%

73%

73%

Q6

78%

75%

74%

75%

Q7

80%

77%

77%

77%

Q8

81%

78%

78%

78%

Figure 1. Percentage of those employed (hired employment or self-employment) in subsequent quarters among men and women with technical degrees

Table 2. Employability rate (percentage of months worked in hired employment or self-employment) among women and men, by field of study

Field

Percentage of women in employment

Percentage of men in employment

Percentage of women among graduates

Automation and Robotics

68%

80%

5%

Electrical Engineering

78%

86%

5%

Electronics

68%

81%

11%

Computer Science

76%

82%

11%

Mechanical Engineering

57%

78%

16%

Construction and Operation of Machinery

72%

80%

20%

Energy Engineering

67%

71%

21%

Mining and Geology Engineering

64%

84%

22%

Construction

72%

78%

31%

Transport

75%

73%

33%

Materials Engineering

59%

67%

49%

Production Engineering

70%

80%

52%

Environmental Engineering

62%

77%

53%

Geodesy and Cartography

62%

62%

55%

Chemical Technology

59%

64%

71%

Architecture and Urban Planning

48%

50%

73%

Biotechnology

50%

50%

79%