Female Students at Universities in Baden- Württemberg, Rhône-Alpes and Catalonia

Abstract

The article exhibits several differences between female and male students in Baden- Württemberg (Germany), Catalonia (Spain) and Rhônes-Alpes (France). Women often give intrinsic motivations in choosing their subjects, men on the other hand tend to be driven by extrinsic motivations. Moreover, women state more often than men that they face problems in their studies. Finally, although female students intend to do a PhD as often as male students, men still constitute the majority among PhD students. By applying several statistical tests we can show that the relatively low number of women doing a PhD cannot be attributed to a lack of interest in science and research among female students. While this interest has a positive effect on the intention to do a PhD, it does not differ by gender but by subject.