The problem of a gender imbalance among male students aged 25 and older at Ukrainian higher education institutions has been nearly resolved, though a disproportion persists at the educational-research level, Andriy Butenko, head of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA), said.
"The Ministry of Education leadership rightly notes that the problem of imbalances among 25-year-olds has almost been resolved. It does exist, compared to 2021, but is no longer so pronounced – unless we consider the third level of education, doctoral programmes, where the demographic imbalance is very evident. Currently, only 15% of doctoral candidates are women, meaning 85% of third-level students are men. Prior to 2022, this figure had always fluctuated around 50%," he said at a session of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation on Wednesday, presenting a report on the quality of higher education in Ukraine and its alignment with sustainable innovation development goals in 2025.
The average age of students at the bachelor’s level is 22, at the master’s level – 27, and at the educational-research level – 35, according to the report.
Regarding the male-female breakdown, women account for 93.8% of junior bachelor’s students, 49.5% at the bachelor’s level, 51.4% at the master’s level, 15.3% at the educational-research level, and 34% at the educational-creative level.
As previously reported, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykola Trofymenko stated that the number of male applicants over the age of 25 across all education levels in 2025 had fallen by more than half compared to 2024.
On June 8, Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi said the situation involving the use of higher education to evade military mobilization had not been critical for several years.
