Science: The percentage of women in mint topics rises to a third

The number of women studying subjects in the fields of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering is increasing. The proportion of female students in so-called MINT subjects reached approximately 32 percent at the universities of North Rhine-Westphalia in the winter semester 2022/2023. This was announced by the Government Statistics Office on Wednesday. 30 years ago, in the winter term of 1992/93, less than 21 percent of students on relevant courses were female.

The subjects of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology are collectively referred to as MINT subjects. The word consists of the first letters of each of the four regions.

According to statistics, the proportion of women in universities in North Rhine-Westphalia has also increased in general. More recently, 49 per cent of students were female, compared to 38 per cent in 1992/93. When it comes to subjects not classified as MINT, women actually make up the majority. The percentage of female students is 60 percent; At the beginning of the 1990s, the ratio was still approximately balanced.

The lowest percentage of women recently was in the field of automotive engineering. Here only 5 percent of the students were female. This is followed by Mechatronics Engineering (8.2) and Mechanical Engineering/Engineering (12.2).

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