Education Women and Men in Ireland 2019 - Central Statistics Office

EU: Young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET rate), 2008, 2013 and 2018

Table 3.1 EU: Young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET rate), 2008, 2013 and 2018
					% of 18-24 age group
Country	2008		2013		2018
	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
Czechia	6.3	11.7	9.6	14.1	4.7	10.7
Netherlands	5.0	5.7	7.3	7.6	5.4	5.5
Luxembourg	6.1	11.1	8.2	5.2	6.9	9.0
Germany	10.5	13.2	7.7	9.8	7.3	8.9
Slovenia	8.1	7.6	11.8	11.2	7.4	9.7
Malta	5.7	9.8	9.6	10.6	7.5	7.7
Austria	8.4	9.7	8.9	9.1	7.8	8.5
Sweden	10.2	11.3	10.3	9.5	8.4	8.3
Denmark	6.0	5.5	8.4	7.7	9.0	8.8
Hungary	13.4	17.1	17.5	22.8	9.3	18.2
Poland	9.9	14.7	16.3	16.5	9.8	13.8
Slovakia	12.0	16.9	18.6	17.0	10.2	15.2
Lithuania	11.8	12.9	15.5	14.8	11.1	10.2
Latvia	12.2	16.7	15.8	16.7	11.5	10.8
Estonia	10.7	11.5	13.5	15.4	11.6	9.5
Portugal	10.5	15.0	19.0	18.7	11.8	11.5
Belgium	12.1	14.5	16.9	15.0	12.0	10.9
Finland	9.7	10.1	14.3	10.8	12.0	11.2
United Kingdom	12.5	18.4	15.7	19.0	12.3	14.5
Ireland	17.7	13.6	22.1	18.7	12.5	12.7
EU 28	12.3	15.7	16.7	17.4	13.1	14.4
Romania	10.0	17.0	19.3	23.4	13.9	22.7
France	13.4	14.4	14.3	15.0	15.9	14.4
Bulgaria	19.4	23.8	26.4	25.5	16.6	20.9
Spain	16.0	17.5	24.8	23.1	16.8	15.4
Croatia	14.8	15.6	28.7	25.3	17.0	18.2
Greece	11.7	19.6	28.8	27.7	19.8	20.2
Cyprus	11.6	14.8	30.8	23.9	21.5	16.3
Italy	18.7	22.7	29.9	28.3	24.6	25.2

Iceland	4.7	5.1	8.2	4.8	5.0	5.8
Norway	5.8	5.1	8.1	7.3	6.9	6.4
Switzerland	6.8	6.5	9.5	8.0	8.5	5.4
Turkey	26.2	59.3	18.3	45.0	19.1	42.7
Serbia	:	:	25.5	25.2	20.9	21.8
Montenegro	:	:	27.5	23.0	24.9	18.1
North Macedonia	36.1	40.3	30.5	31.9	30.4	32.1
Source: CSO LFS, Eurostat LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.1 (XLS 12KB)

About one in eight young men and women were neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET rate) in Ireland in 2018.

The NEET rate for men aged 18-24 was 12.5% while the rate for women was 12.7%.

The EU average NEET rates were 13.1% for men and 14.4% for women in 2018.

The lowest NEET rate in 2018 for young men in the EU was 4.7% in Czechia and for young women was 5.5% in the Netherlands.

The highest NEET rates for both young men and women in the EU were in Italy, where about one in four was neither in employment nor in education and training in 2018.

The NEET rate for young men in Ireland rose from 17.7% in 2008 to 22.1% in 2013 before dropping to 12.5% in 2018.

Young women in Ireland had a NEET rate of 13.6% in 2008 which increased to 18.7% by 2013 before dropping to 12.7% in 2018.

	Men	Women
Czechia	4.7	10.7
Netherlands	5.4	5.5
Luxembourg	6.9	9
Germany	7.3	8.9
Slovenia	7.4	9.7
Malta	7.5	7.7
Austria	7.8	8.5
Sweden	8.4	8.3
Denmark	9	8.8
Hungary	9.3	18.2
Poland	9.8	13.8
Slovakia	10.2	15.2
Lithuania	11.1	10.2
Latvia	11.5	10.8
Estonia	11.6	9.5
Portugal	11.8	11.5
Belgium	12	10.9
Finland	12	11.2
United Kingdom	12.3	14.5
Ireland	12.5	12.7
EU 28	13.1	14.4
Romania	13.9	22.7
France	15.9	14.4
Bulgaria	16.6	20.9
Spain	16.8	15.4
Croatia	17	18.2
Greece	19.8	20.2
Cyprus	21.5	16.3
Italy	24.6	25.2
Iceland	5	5.8
Norway	6.9	6.4
Switzerland	8.5	5.4
Turkey	19.1	42.7
Serbia	20.9	21.8
Montenegro	24.9	18.1
North Macedonia	30.4	32.1

Ireland: Leaving certificate candidates, 2019

Table 3.2 Ireland: Leaving Certificate candidates, 2019
	number		higher level candidates as a % of total candidates		% all candidates attaining A or B grades
Subject (higher level)	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
English	18,120	22,097	65.4	77.9	19.4	28.4
French	5,891	9,763	21.3	34.4	7.7	13.9
Irish	8,828	14,348	31.9	50.6	13.0	24.7

Biology	10,049	17,014	36.3	60.0	12.6	25.9
Chemistry	3,411	4,833	12.3	17.0	6.0	8.1
Mathematics	9,323	8,830	33.7	31.1	12.8	9.4
Physics	4,714	1,869	17.0	6.6	6.7	3.3

Construction studies	7,008	888	25.3	3.1	9.5	1.4
Design and communication graphics	3,928	638	14.2	2.2	6.9	1.3
Engineering	4,440	325	16.0	1.1	6.7	0.5

Art	2,125	5,497	7.7	19.4	2.0	8.6
Home economics	957	8,773	3.5	30.9	0.8	14.6
Music	1,798	4,436	6.5	15.6	4.5	11.4

Total Leaving Certificate candidates¹	27,698	28,373
			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.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.2 (XLS 11KB)

The language subjects of English, French and Irish were more popular at higher level with girls than boys in the Leaving Cert in 2019. Nearly eight out of ten (77.9%) of girls took English at higher level compared with 65.4% of boys.

Girls were also more likely to study Biology, Art, Home Economics and Music at higher level. More than half of girls (60%) took higher level Biology compared with 36.3% of boys.

Construction studies, Physics, Engineering and Design & Communications graphics at higher level were much more popular with boys.

A quarter (25.3%) of all boys took higher level Construction Studies compared to just 3.1% of girls. Only 1.1% of girls studied higher level Engineering compared to 16% of boys.

The proportions of boys and girls taking Mathematics were similar, with 33.7% of boys and 31.1% of girls taking higher level Mathematics in 2019.

Ireland: Third level graduates by field of study, 2017

Table 3.3 Ireland: Third level graduates¹by field of study, 2017
		number			%
Field of education	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Generic programmes and qualifications	63	166	229	0.2	0.4
Education	1,653	4,807	6,460	5.1	12.7
Arts and humanities	3,604	5,587	9,191	11.1	14.7
Social sciences, journalism and information	1,607	2,873	4,480	4.9	7.6
Business, administration and law	8,171	8,157	16,329	25.1	21.5
Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics	2,773	2,798	5,571	8.5	7.4
Information and communication technologies (ICTs)	3,383	938	4,321	10.4	2.5
Engineering, manufacturing and construction	5,790	1,362	7,152	17.8	3.6
Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary	682	406	1,088	2.1	1.1
Health and welfare	2,946	9,464	12,411	9.1	24.9
Services	1,879	1,404	3,283	5.8	3.7
Total	32,551	37,962	70,515	100.0	100.0
Source: Higher Education Authority
¹At ISCED 2011 levels 5 to 8 (see Appendix 1). Total excludes graduates where field of education was not stated.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.3 (XLS 10KB)

Women represented more than half (53.8%) of all third-level graduates in Ireland in 2017.

One in four (24.9%) female graduates were in Health and Welfare while 21.5% were in Business, administration and law.

One in four (25.1%) male graduates were in Business, administration and law while 17.8% were Engineering, manufacturing and construction.

About 75% of all graduates in both Education and in Health & welfare were female in 2017.

Around 80% of all graduates in Information & communication technologies and in Engineering, manufacturing & construction were male.

	Men	Women
Engineering, manufacturing and construction	80.9563758389262	19.0436241610738
Information and communication technologies (ICTs)	78.2920620226799	21.7079379773201
Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary	62.6838235294118	37.3161764705882
Services	57.2342369783734	42.7657630216266
Business, administration and law	50.03980647927	49.9540694469961
Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics	49.7756237659307	50.2243762340693
Arts and humanities	39.2122728756392	60.7877271243608
Social sciences, journalism and information	35.8705357142857	64.1294642857143
Generic programmes and qualifications	27.5109170305677	72.4890829694323
Education	25.5882352941176	74.4117647058823
Health and welfare	23.7370074933527	76.2549351381839
Total	46.1618095440686	53.8353541799617

Ireland: Students as proportion of population aged 18-24, 2013 and 2018

Table 3.4 Ireland: Students as proportion of population aged 18-24, 2013 and 2018
%
	2013		2018
Age	Men	Women	Men	Women
18 years	76.5	84.6	75.6	83.6
19 years	61.0	68.6	59.1	62.4
20 years	49.6	64.4	58.8	61.5
21 years	40.2	50.9	47.7	48.3
22 years	37.0	30.0	38.0	35.0
23 years	18.1	20.8	20.0	18.7
24 years	13.2	12.9	12.3	12.8
Total 18-24 year olds	42.5	47.2	46.2	47.1
Source: CSO LFS

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.4 (XLS 11KB)

Just under half of young men and women aged 18-24 were students in 2018.

About 47% of young women and 46.2% of young men were students.

More young women were students than men for young people aged 18-21. This difference was most pronounced for 18 year olds, where 83.6% of women were students compared to 75.6% of men.

One in eight of the 24 year olds in Ireland were students in 2018.

	Men	Women
18 years	75.5700325732899	83.641975308642
19 years	59.1428571428571	62.3616236162362
20 years	58.7662337662338	61.4617940199335
21 years	47.7011494252874	48.3108108108108
22 years	38.0327868852459	35.0180505415162
23 years	20	18.75
24 years	12.3015873015873	12.7586206896552

Ireland: Persons aged 25-34 with a third level qualification, 2008-2018

Table 3.5 Ireland: Persons aged 25-34 with a third level qualification, 2008-2018
%
Year	Men	Women
2008	35.0	50.1
2009 ¹	38.5	51.0
2010	38.9	52.3
2011	39.3	53.2
2012	41.4	54.2
2013	42.7	55.3
2014 ²	45.2	59.9
2015	47.8	60.1
2016	46.5	60.5
2017	49.1	61.9
2018	52.5	59.9
Source: CSO LFS
¹ From 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.
² ISCED 2011 classification from 2014.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.5 (XLS 10KB)

The percentage of men and women aged 25-34 with a third level qualification increased between 2008 and 2018.

Between 2008 and 2018, the proportion of women aged 25-34 with a third level qualification rose from 50.1% to 59.9%, a rise of 9.8 percentage points.

However the proportion of men with a third level qualification increased more strongly over this period by 17.5 percentage points, rising from 35% to 52.5%.

Thus while more women than men aged 25-34 have a third level qualification, this gap has narrowed from 15.1 percentage points to 7.4 points between 2008 and 2018.

Year	Men	Women
2008	35.0294042444388	50.1423027166882
2009	38.5470527404343	51.0025706940874
2010	38.8667198723065	52.2727272727273
2011	39.2866792758714	53.2091097308489
2012	41.4317925591883	54.1710665258712
2013	42.7022274325909	55.3069577080491
2014	45.2102434397724	59.8714953271028
2015	47.7814569536424	60.1084664055439
2016	46.5339966832504	60.4843654199877
2017	49.0884537474679	61.9197979160088
2018	52.4674434544208	59.8573281452659

Ireland: Persons aged 35-64 by highest level of education attained, 2018

Table 3.6 Ireland: Persons aged 35-64 by highest level of education attained, 2018
		'000s	% of category
Level of education attained¹	Men	Women	Men	Women
Primary or no formal education	64.8	55.2	6.8	5.6
Lower secondary	156.0	99.9	16.3	10.2
Higher secondary	192.3	208.0	20.0	21.2
Post leaving certificate	145.9	136.9	15.2	13.9
Third level	375.7	458.4	39.2	46.6
Not stated	24.8	24.6	2.6	2.5
Total	959.6	983.0	100.0	100.0
Source: CSO LFS
¹ISCED 2011 classification.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.6 (XLS 9KB)

More women than men aged 35-64 had third level education in 2018, with 46.6% of women being educated to at least degree level compared with 39.2% of men.

The proportion of men with primary or lower secondary education was 23.1% compared to 15.8% of women.

	Men	Women
Not stated	24.8	24.6
Third level	375.7	458.4
Post leaving certificate	145.9	136.9
Higher secondary	192.3	208
Lower secondary	156	99.9
Primary or no formal education	64.8	55.2

Ireland: Classroom teachers, 2008-2017

Table 3.7 Ireland: Classroom teachers¹, 2008-2017
				%
	ISCED 1		ISCED 2-3
	Primary		Second level
Year	Men	Women	Men	Women
2008	17.2	82.8	36.3	63.7
2009	15.3	84.7	36.6	63.4
2010	15.1	84.9	35.3	64.7
2011	15.1	84.9	34.9	65.1
2012	15.1	84.9	31.7	68.3
2013	13.7	86.3	:	:
2014	13.1	86.9	29.0	71.0
2015	13.0	87.0	29.0	71.0
2016	13.7	86.3	29.8	70.2
2017	14.2	85.8	29.7	70.3
			Source: Eurostat
¹ ISCED 1997 for years 2008-2012 and ISCED 2011 for years 2013-2017 see appendix for more.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.7 (XLS 11KB)

More than five in six (85.8%) primary teachers in Ireland were women in 2017, an increase of three percentage points since 2008.

At second level, women accounted for 70.3% of teachers in 2017, an increase of 6.6 percentage points since 2008.

EU: Classroom teachers and academic staff, 2017

Table 3.8 EU: Classroom teachers and academic staff, 2017¹
%
Country	ISCED 1		ISCED 2-3		ISCED 5-8
	Primary		Second level		Third level
	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
Lithuania	3.3	96.7	18.3	81.7	43.3	56.7
Hungary	3.5	96.5	30.3	69.7	59.8	40.2
Italy	4.4	95.6	29.8	70.2	62.9	37.1
Czechia	5.5	94.5	31.7	68.3	61.6	38.4
Bulgaria	6.0	94.0	21.7	78.3	50.9	49.1
Croatia	6.7	93.3	29.0	71.0	51.2	48.8
Latvia	7.6	92.4	17.4	82.6	43.6	56.4
Austria	8.4	91.6	34.4	65.6	57.7	42.3
Estonia	9.5	90.5	23.8	76.2	50.9	49.1
Slovakia	9.8	90.2	25.5	74.5	54.2	45.8
Romania	10.2	89.8	28.2	71.8	49.2	50.8
Slovenia	11.9	88.1	20.2	79.8	57.4	42.6
Germany	12.7	87.3	37.0	63.0	60.7	39.3
Netherlands	13.0	87.0	46.9	53.1	54.1	45.9
Malta	14.1	85.9	36.2	63.8	64.2	35.8
Ireland	14.2	85.8	29.7	70.3	55.0	45.0
EU28	14.5	85.5	35.3	64.7	57.7	42.3
Poland	14.7	85.3	30.7	69.3	55.0	45.0
United Kingdom	14.8	85.2	39.4	60.6	54.8	45.2
Cyprus	16.4	83.6	33.9	66.1	57.7	42.3
France	16.5	83.5	39.9	60.1	56.0	44.0
Belgium	17.7	82.3	36.9	63.1	51.5	48.5
Portugal	19.1	80.9	29.6	70.4	55.7	44.3
Finland	20.4	79.6	32.7	67.3	48.1	51.9
Spain	23.2	76.8	42.4	57.6	56.6	43.4
Luxembourg	23.5	76.5	45.6	54.4	62.7	37.3
Sweden	23.6	76.4	35.6	64.4	55.2	44.8
Greece	28.5	71.5	39.2	60.8	65.7	34.3
Denmark	30.9	69.1	31.0	69.0	57.2	42.8

Serbia	13.7	86.3	34.5	65.5	53.4	46.6
North Macedonia	16.4	83.6	40.7	59.3	53.6	46.4
Switzerland	17.2	82.8	50.2	49.8	64.5	35.5
Iceland	17.4	82.6	17.4	82.6	:	:
Norway	25.4	74.6	36.6	63.4	53.7	46.3
Turkey	38.9	61.1	47.2	52.8	56.0	44.0
Source: Eurostat
¹ 2014 data used for Level 1 and 2015 data used for Level 5 to 8 for Denmark.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.8 (XLS 13KB)

In 2017 in Ireland 14.2% of primary school teachers were men. The highest reported levels of male participation at primary level in EU countries were in Denmark and Greece where about 30% of all primary teachers were male.

Lithuania and Hungary had the lowest levels of male teachers at primary level in the EU at around 3%.

In Ireland, 29.7% of second level teachers were male in 2017, below the EU average of 35.3%.

At third level in Ireland 55% of academic staff were male.

The majority of teachers at primary and second level in 2017 were female in all EU countries.

However, at third level, the majority of academic staff were male in EU countries with the exceptions of Romania, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania.

EU: School management personnel, 2017

Table 3.9 EU: School management personnel, 2017¹
						%
Country	ISCED 1		ISCED 2		ISCED 3
	Primary		Lower secondary		Upper secondary
	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
Bulgaria	19.9	80.1	24.3	75.7	24.1	75.9
Lithuania	5.0	95.0	19.9	80.1	25.8	74.2
Denmark	27.0	73.0	49.3	50.7	31.3	68.7
Slovakia	13.1	86.9	12.9	87.1	37.1	62.9
Romania	22.8	77.2	36.5	63.5	39.1	60.9
Poland	21.7	78.3	31.6	68.4	40.5	59.5
Slovenia	26.1	73.9	26.2	73.8	42.4	57.6
Hungary	21.7	78.3	22.9	77.1	43.7	56.3
Italy	:	:	14.2	85.8	44.6	55.4
Sweden	30.4	69.6	31.1	68.9	44.6	55.4
United Kingdom	21.8	78.2	50.3	49.7	45.5	54.5
Ireland²	38.0	62.0	:	:	50.9	49.1
Malta	30.3	69.7	36.4	63.6	51.1	48.9
Finland	48.9	51.1	52.5	47.5	53.4	46.6
Belgium	36.3	63.7	:	:	56.6	43.4
France	43.4	56.6	50.0	50.0	58.3	41.7
Austria	17.1	82.9	52.1	47.9	61.9	38.1
Netherlands	47.5	52.5	67.6	32.4	63.0	37.0
Greece	57.5	42.5	54.6	45.4	67.9	32.1
Luxembourg	63.0	37.0	:	:	68.9	31.1

Norway	35.8	64.2	35.7	64.3	46.3	53.7
North Macedonia	:	:	58.0	42.0	62.8	37.2
Switzerland	36.4	63.6	62.7	37.3	72.2	27.8
Iceland	21.9	78.1	21.9	78.1	99.0	1.0
Source: Eurostat
¹ 2016 data used for Bulgaria for levels 2 and 3, 2014 data used for Denmark for levels 1 and 3.
² Data for lower secondary included with upper secondary for Ireland.

Open in Excel: Women and Men in Ireland 2019 Table 3.9 (XLS 11KB)

There were more women then men in school management positions at primary level in Ireland in 2017 with 62% of these positions taken by women.

The proportion of primary school managers who were female in the reporting countries varied from 37% in Luxembourg to 95% in Lithuania.

In Ireland just under half (49.1%) 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 31.1% while Bulgaria had the highest at 75.9%.

Women and Men in Ireland 2019

Education

EU: Young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET rate), 2008, 2013 and 2018

Ireland: Leaving certificate candidates, 2019

Ireland: Third level graduates by field of study, 2017

Ireland: Students as proportion of population aged 18-24, 2013 and 2018

Ireland: Persons aged 25-34 with a third level qualification, 2008-2018

Ireland: Persons aged 35-64 by highest level of education attained, 2018

Ireland: Classroom teachers, 2008-2017

EU: Classroom teachers and academic staff, 2017

EU: School management personnel, 2017

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