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Women Outpace Men in German University Degree Completion

The survey incorporates two extra semesters to capture study interruptions in a system without standard program lengths.

Bachelorstudentinnen schließen ihr Studium im Schnitt öfter innerhalb der Regelstudienzeit ab als ihre männlichen Kommilitonen. 36 Prozent der Frauen, die 2019 ein Bachelorstudium begannen, schlossen dies innerhalb von acht Semestern ab.
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Overview

  • 36% of women versus 25% of men from the 2019 bachelor cohort graduated within eight semesters, yielding an overall rate of 30%.
  • Just over half of master students in the 2019 cohort graduated within six semesters, with women at 54% and men at 49%.
  • Discipline gaps ranged from a 15-point difference in humanities (27% vs. 12% by gender) to a 4-point gap in engineering (26% vs. 22%).
  • Across genders, bachelor graduation was highest in law, economics and social sciences at 39% and lowest in humanities at 22%.
  • The report marks the first time the Statistisches Bundesamt has tracked degree timelines with extended observation windows to account for study interruptions.