Luxembourg ranks last in Europe for parity in masters and doctorate courses

The Grand Duchy ranks rock bottom in the European Union when it comes to the proportion of women among master’s and doctoral students, according to data published by Eurostat in March.

In 2022, the proportion of female master’s students across the EU was 58.6%, while that of female doctoral students fell to 48.5%. Among EU countries Luxembourg comes last, with 49.8% of all master’s students pursuing a degree in Luxembourg being female, and the figure for female doctoral students dropping to 42.3%.

A situation that does not please Jens Kreisel, rector of the University of Luxembourg. “It’s a great disappointment, but it’s not a surprise. We are keeping a very close eye on our progress in terms of gender equality within the university, both in terms of students and teaching staff,” Kreisel said.

Not enough women in STEM

At the bottom of the ranking, alongside Luxembourg, are France, Belgium and Germany. This observation was not lost on the rector. “It’s a relatively frustrating observation, but it shows that we are part of a cultural pool where, unfortunately, there are not enough women studying, particularly in the STEM field, which encompasses science, technology, engineering and mathematics”.

Jens Kreisel has been rector of the University of Luxembourg since 1 January 2023. © Photo credit: Lorène Paul

Unlike the humanities and social sciences, where female students are over-represented, STEM disciplines are the subject of more theses, which inflates the proportion of male students among doctoral students. But this is not the only factor that could explain the gender imbalance. “We share a common difficulty with our neighbouring countries, which is that we lack female role models”, the UniLu rector said.

Research also suffers from an image, that of a solitary discipline, which may seem unattractive to young women, when in fact it has become a team effort. “Our approach is therefore to go out and meet future students in schools and colleges, to explain what research is all about and to break down any preconceptions they may have about certain fields,” Kreisel said.

Whether embarking on a doctorate, or more generally pursuing a career, women have to deal with the impact of motherhood on their professional lives. “Some stages are harder than others. Going from a bachelor’s to a master’s degree is not a problem, as the statistics show. But when you move on to a doctorate, you collide directly with your private life and your desire to have a family,” Kreisel added.

Only 28% of women professors

To encourage women to embark on longer studies, the university has set up a number of initiatives. One of these is a mentoring programme for female students.

While parity has not yet been achieved among doctoral students, the imbalance is even greater among the teaching staff. “The proportion of women among our professors has been constant over the last 20 years, at 25%. Over the last four years, we have managed to increase this to 28%. We hope to approach 30% next year. I remember proposing this target and being called crazy. But I’m even confident that we’ll get to 35%. Every percentage is a victory,” said Kreisel, who points out that there is parity within the rectorate and the Uni’s board of directors.

In order to continue to increase the proportion of women professors, the University of Luxembourg will be introducing a new initiative in the summer of 2025. “For programmes where we have a significant gender parity deficit, we are going to open up the recruitment of professors exclusively to women for six months, with the agreement of the government. With this initiative, we want to send a real signal,” Kreisel said.

Once hired, female professors can benefit from special support for their research. This takes the form of excellence grants reserved for young women. “These grants enable post-doctoral students, assistant professors and associate professors to have more resources for their research”, Kreisel added.

A long-term objective

The University of Luxembourg’s commitment to parity does not stop there. The rectorate is still looking for solutions to help female students and professors reconcile research and family life.

While the university is unable to open a daycare on its premises for lack of authorisation, other solutions are being considered. “We are currently exploring partnerships with crèches located in the vicinity of the Belval campus to guarantee a certain number of places. We hope to find an improvement within a year,” the rector said.

To complement these initiatives, the rector is keeping an eye abroad. “Our approach is to support women where we can at every stage. But it’s a game that is played over time. It’s not possible to change the whole system in two or three years. Society cannot deprive itself of women’s capacity for excellence and their brains,” Kreisel said.

Many female students abroad

Asked about the Eurostat publication, the ministry of higher education points out that the majority of students living in Luxembourg do not study in the country. Around 80% of them pursue their university studies abroad. “When all resident master’s and doctoral students are taken into account, the Eurostat figures need to be put into perspective”, the ministry said. For the academic year 2023-2024, out of 5,004 resident master’s students (studying in Luxembourg and abroad), 2,749 were women, almost 55%. At doctoral level, out of a total of 263 resident students, 138 were women, representing just over 52%.

(This article was originally published by Virgule.lu. Translation and editing by Lucrezia Reale.)