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Education

4.1 Ireland: Leaving Certificate candidates, 2016
 number higher level candidates as a % of total candidates% all candidates attaining A or B grades
Subject (higher level)BoysGirlsBoysGirlsBoysGirls
English16,45020,12659.272.218.727.6
French5,9799,27321.533.28.014.6
Irish7,49012,60727.045.212.424.6
       
Biology9,67315,53834.855.713.523.4
Chemistry3,4124,24612.315.25.97.2
Mathematics8,0327,16628.925.711.88.3
Physics4,4291,57415.95.67.02.7
       
Construction studies6,46062723.22.29.40.9
Design and communication graphics3,82652413.81.96.81.1
Engineering4,27021915.40.87.10.4
       
Art2,2985,4918.319.72.28.7
Home economics6878,0682.528.90.614.1
Music1,8544,1926.715.04.210.2
       
Total Leaving Certificate candidates127,79027,894    
   Source: State Examinations Commission
1The above data exclude candidates in the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme. School candidates, repeat candidates, external candidates, VTOS and PLC candidates are included in the table.

 

  • The language subjects of English, French and Irish were more popular at higher level with girls than boys. More than seven in ten girls (72.2%) sitting the Leaving certificate took English at higher level compared with 59.2% of boys.
  • More than half (55.7%) of girls took higher level Biology compared with 34.8% of boys.
  • Higher level mathematics was taken by 28.9% of boys, compared to 25.7% of girls.
  • Just under a quarter of all boys took higher level Construction studies in the Leaving Certificate compared to just 2.2% of girls.
  • Design and communications graphics and Engineering were also more popular with boys than girls. Only 1.9% of girls took higher level Design and communications graphics compared with 13.8% of boys.
  • About one in six boys sitting the Leaving Certificate took higher level Engineering compared to less than 1% of girls.
  • Art, Home economics and Music at higher level were much more likely to be taken by girls. Nearly three in ten girls took higher level Home economics compared to about 3 in 100 boys while higher level Art was taken by 19.7% of girls compared with 8.3% of boys.
4.2 Ireland: Third level graduates1 by field of study, 2016
  number %
Field of educationMenWomenMenWomen
Generic programmes and qualifications65950.20.3
Education1,0542,6363.47.9
Arts and humanities3,6835,32112.015.9
Social sciences, journalism and information1,5722,5185.17.5
Business, administration and law7,9307,84125.823.4
Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics2,5612,6528.37.9
Information and communication technologies (ICTs)3,23584510.52.5
Engineering, manufacturing and construction5,5381,18018.03.5
Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary6394182.11.2
Health and welfare2,6368,5448.625.5
Services1,8301,4906.04.4
Total30,74333,540100.0100.0
Source: Department of Education and Science
1At ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (see Appendix 1). Total excludes graduates where field of education was not stated.

 

  • Women represented 52.2 % of all third-level graduates in Ireland in 2016.
  • One in four (25.5%) female graduates were in Health and welfare while just under one in four (23.4%) were in Business, administration and law.
  • One in four (25.8%) male graduates were in Business, administration and law while 18% were in Engineering, manufacturing and construction.
  • Women represented more than three out of four (76.4%) graduates in Health and welfare and 71.4% of graduates in education.
  • More than four out of five (82.4%) graduates in Engineering, manufacturing and construction were male while 79.3% of graduates in Information and communication technologies were male.
MenWomen
Engineering, manufacturing and construction82.435248585888717.5647514141113
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)79.289215686274520.7107843137255
Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary60.454115421002839.5458845789972
Services55.120481927710844.8795180722892
Business, administration and law50.282163464586949.7178365354131
Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics49.127182044887850.8728179551122
Arts and humanities40.904042647712159.0959573522879
Generic programmes and qualifications40.62559.375
Social sciences, journalism and information38.435207823960961.5647921760391
Education28.563685636856471.4363143631436
Health and welfare23.577817531305976.4221824686941
Total47.824463699578452.1755363004216
4.3 Ireland: Students as proportion of population aged 18-24, 2011 and 2016
%
Age    2011          2016
MenWomenMenWomen
18 years80.983.885.683.5
19 years65.270.563.974.0
20 years53.760.848.068.5
21 years46.348.744.554.3
22 years26.527.241.342.0
23 years23.120.230.426.0
24 years14.914.520.520.2
Total 18-24 year olds43.744.949.655.1
Source: CSO QNHS

 

  • The proportion of students among women in the 18-24 age group rose by over 10 percentage points between 2011 and 2016, from 44.9% to 55.1%.
  • Over the same time period, the proportion of students among men in the 18-24 age group rose by just under 6 percentage points, from 43.7% to 49.6%.
  • In 2016 more young women than men were students and this difference was most pronounced for 20 year olds where 68.5% of women were students compared to 48% of men.
4.4 Ireland: Persons aged 25-34 with a third level qualification, 2007-2016
%
YearMenWomen
200734.347.6
200835.050.1
2009138.551.0
201038.952.3
201139.353.2
201241.454.2
201342.755.3
2014241.054.0
201543.954.7
201642.955.1
Source: CSO QNHS
1From 2009 the classification of educational levels was revised in order to facilitate the linking of education categories to the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), while also retaining links with the international education classification, ISCED97.
2ISCED 2011 classification from 2014.

 

  • The percentage of men and women aged 25-34 with a third level qualification increased over the period 2007 to 2016.
  • More women than men have a third level qualification but the gap narrowed slightly over the period 2007 to 2016.
  • The percentage of men aged 25-34 with a third level qualification increased from 34.3% in 2007 to 42.9% in 2016, an increase of 8.6 percentage points.
  • The percentage of women aged 25-34 with a third level qualification increased from 47.6% in 2007 to 55.1% in 2016, a rise of 7.5 percentage points.
MenWomen
200734.348387096774247.5733333333333
200835.029404244438850.1423027166882
200938.547052740434351.0025706940874
201038.866719872306552.2727272727273
201139.286679275871453.2091097308489
201241.431792559188354.1710665258712
201342.702227432590955.3069577080491
201440.971585701191654.0494938132733
201543.878205128205154.6678372841674
201642.927308447937155.0777676120769
4.5 Ireland: Persons aged 35-64 by highest level of education attained, 2016
000s% of category
Level of education attained1MenWomenMenWomen
Primary or no formal education94.178.310.28.3
Lower secondary144.8112.515.712.0
Higher secondary201.4215.521.922.9
Post leaving certificate122.7115.813.312.3
Third level327.1394.235.641.9
Not stated29.725.03.22.7
Total919.8941.4100.0100.0
Source: CSO QNHS
1ISCED 2011 classification.

 

  • More women aged 35-64 had third level education in 2016 than men, with 41.9% of women being educated to at least degree level compared with 35.6% of men.
  • Just over a quarter of men aged 35-64 in 2016 had at most lower secondary education compared to 20.3% of women.
4.6 Ireland: Classroom teachers1, 2006-2015
%
 ISCED 1ISCED 2-3
 PrimarySecond level
YearMenWomenMenWomen
200617.182.937.962.1
200717.882.237.962.1
200817.282.836.363.7
200915.384.736.663.4
201015.184.935.364.7
201115.184.934.965.1
201215.184.931.768.3
201313.786.3::
201413.186.929.071.0
201513.087.029.071.0
Source: Eurostat
1ISCED 97 for years 2006-2012 and ISCED 2011 for years 2013-2015, see Appendix 1

 

  • Women accounted for 87% of teachers at primary level in Ireland in 2015, an increase of 4.1 percentage points since 2006.
  • At second level, women accounted for 71% of teachers in 2015, which was an increase of 8.9 percentage points since 2006.
4.7 EU: Classroom teachers and academic staff, 20151
%
CountryISCED 1ISCED 2-3ISCED 5-8
PrimarySecond levelThird level
MenWomenMenWomenMenWomen
Denmark30.969.143.656.458.841.2
Greece29.870.241.758.367.332.7
Luxembourg24.275.846.953.162.137.9
Spain23.876.243.156.957.542.5
Sweden22.977.136.163.955.744.3
Finland20.279.834.165.948.951.1
Portugal19.980.129.970.155.644.4
Belgium18.281.837.162.951.448.6
France17.982.140.659.462.137.9
Cyprus17.682.434.465.658.941.1
United Kingdom15.984.139.960.155.744.3
EU 2815.484.636.064.058.441.6
Poland14.685.430.769.355.644.4
Netherlands13.886.247.952.155.644.4
Germany13.286.837.662.461.838.2
Ireland13.087.029.071.056.044.0
Romania11.089.029.370.750.649.4
Slovakia10.389.725.674.454.645.4
Malta9.990.134.165.964.735.3
Estonia8.991.123.876.251.148.9
Austria8.491.634.965.157.342.7
Latvia7.292.817.582.544.355.7
Croatia6.493.629.470.652.048.0
Czech Republic6.094.032.167.959.940.1
Bulgaria5.494.621.079.051.948.1
Italy4.195.929.170.962.737.3
Hungary3.296.829.770.357.942.1
Slovenia2.897.226.873.258.941.1
Lithuania2.897.218.581.543.956.1
       
Turkey41.858.250.649.457.242.8
Norway25.075.037.162.954.545.5
Macedonia18.581.542.058.050.149.9
Iceland18.281.818.481.6::
Switzerland18.281.851.348.765.734.3
Serbia13.686.435.364.755.444.6
Source: Eurostat
12013 data used for Iceland and 2014 data used for EU28, Denmark, Greece, the United Kingdom, Macedonia and Turkey.

 

  • In 2015 13% of primary school teachers in Ireland were men. The highest reported levels of male participation at primary level among other EU countries were in Denmark and Greece where about 30% of all primary teachers were male.
  • Lithuania and Slovenia had the lowest levels of male teachers at primary level in the EU at just 2.8%.
  • In Ireland 29% of second level teachers were male in 2015, below the EU average of 36%.
  • At third level in Ireland 56% of academic staff were male in 2015.
  • The majority of teachers at primary and second level in 2015 were female in all EU countries. However at third level, the majority of academic staff were male in EU countries with the exceptions of Lithuania, Latvia and Finland.
This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
4.8 EU: School management personnel, 20151
      %
CountryISCED 1ISCED 2ISCED 3
PrimaryLower secondaryUpper secondary
MenWomenMenWomenMenWomen
Lithuania4.096.020.479.625.774.3
Bulgaria18.781.325.075.026.074.0
Denmark27.073.032.567.531.368.7
Slovakia12.687.413.186.938.661.4
Romania25.374.734.465.640.359.7
Slovenia26.273.826.673.441.358.7
Poland21.778.331.368.741.458.6
Hungary22.277.822.177.945.754.3
Sweden31.768.331.468.646.653.4
Italy::15.784.347.152.9
Malta28.871.249.650.453.946.1
Finland52.048.055.744.354.545.5
United Kingdom22.477.648.451.655.644.4
Ireland241.059.0::55.744.3
Belgium38.861.2::59.140.9
France24.675.444.455.660.339.7
Austria16.283.854.645.464.435.6
Netherlands51.648.471.128.965.734.3
Greece59.240.857.442.668.331.7
Luxembourg52.447.6::70.529.5
       
Norway38.661.438.561.549.350.7
Macedonia::57.043.067.532.5
Switzerland39.061.065.035.072.827.2
Iceland27.772.327.772.3::
Source: Eurostat
12014 data used for Denmark, Greece, the United Kingdom and Macedonia and 2013 data used for Iceland.
2Data for lower secondary included with upper secondary for Ireland.

 

  • There were more women than men in school management positions at primary level in Ireland in 2015 with 59% of these positions taken by women.
  • The proportion of primary school managers who were female in the reporting countries varied from 40.8% in Greece to 96% in Lithuania.
  • In Ireland in 2015 less than half (44.3%) of second-level school management personnel were female.
  • Of the EU countries for which data was available, Luxembourg had the lowest proportion of female school managers at upper secondary level at 29.5% while Lithuania had the highest at 74.3%.

 

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