School of Physics and Astronomy

Menu

  1. Home
  2. Physics & Astronomy
  3. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  4. About us
  5. School statistics
Contact us

School statistics

This page presents information about the gender and ethnicity of students and staff in the School of Physics & Astronomy.

In the interest of the privacy and safety of our staff and students, the following statistics are based on aggregated data of only those who identify as men or women. We did not include the numbers of those who do not represent either, as such data may lead to them being easily identifiable. Unfortunately, due to the way that University data is collected, we had to use the terms 'male' and 'female' in the figures below.

Statistics for the School of Physics and Astronomy

Introduction

The data presented below is produced by the University’s Equality Diversity Monitoring and Research Committee (EDMARC). When this page was published, the latest data available was for 2019.

University-wide reports, methods, and definitions are available at the EDMARC web page.

In some places, where we have small statistics (e.g. 5 or fewer students/staff in one category), we have aggregated categories together. Where we have done this we have noted this in the text.

Notation

  • In each graph, the School of Physics and Astronomy (SoPA) is represented along with the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), of which SoPA is a part. The whole of the University of Edinburgh (UoE) statistics can be found on the far right. 
  • For comparison, Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) statistics can be found on the left for some statistics. This includes data from universities around the UK, serving as a benchmark to compare UoE statistics to what is typical for the UK. 
  • The sample size for students in each category ranks as follows: SoPA < CSE < UoE < HESA .
  • BAME stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. In some places, we have separated BAME into UK and non-UK domiciled students.
  • In the gender statistics, we sometimes report sex (i.e. female and non-female) as opposed to gender, due to the way the data was collected.

Student ethnicity statistics

These present the proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students for different groups.

The HESA data presented in the graphs of ethnic diversity is for all students in the UK in all subject areas, as HESA does not provide ethnicity data by subject area.

Ethnicity: UK undergraduate students

Caption: Percent of UK undergraduate students that are BAME by year of entry and a snapshot month of December.
In SoPA, these are students studying for BSc and MPhys degrees. The other categories include other subjects.

Ethnicity: non-UK undergraduate students

A graph showing the percentage of non-UK domiciled Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic undergraduate students studying physics at the University of Edinburgh.

Caption: Proportion of undergraduate students from outside the UK that are BAME by year of entry and a snapshot month of December.
In SoPA, these are students studying for BSc and MPhys degrees. The other categories include other subjects.
No HESA comparison data is included as HESA collects ethnicity data from UK domiciled students only. 

Ethnicity: UK postgraduate research students

A graph showing the percentage of UK domiciled Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic postgraduate research (PhD) students studying physics at the University of Edinburgh.

Caption: Proportion of UK domiciled postgraduate research students that are BAME by year of entry and a snapshot month of December.
In SoPA, these are students doing PhDs in Physics or Astronomy. The other categories include other subjects.
​​​​​Due to small statistics in SoPA, we have aggregated the data over two-year time periods.

Ethnicity: non-UK postgraduate research students

A graph showing the percentage of non-UK domiciled Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic postgraduate research (PhD) students studying physics at the University of Edinburgh.

Caption: Proportion of non-UK domiciled postgraduate research students that are BAME by year of entry and a snapshot month of December.
In SoPA, these are students doing PhDs in Physics or Astronomy. The other categories include other subjects.
​​​​​Due to small statistics in SoPA, we have aggregated the data over two-year time periods.
No HESA comparison data is included as HESA collects ethnicity data from UK domiciled students only.

Ethnicity: UK taught postgraduate students

A graph showing the percentage of UK domiciled Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic postgraduate taught (MSc) students studying physics at the University of Edinburgh.

Caption: Proportion of postgraduate taught students that are BAME by year of entry and a snapshot month of December.
In SoPA, these are students studying for MSc degrees in Physics. The other categories include other subjects.
Due to small numbers in SoPA, we have aggregated the data over two year periods.

Ethnicity: non-UK taught postgraduate students

A graph showing the percentage of non-UK domiciled Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic postgraduate taught (MSc) students studying physics at the University of Edinburgh.

Caption: Proportion of postgraduate taught students that are BAME by year of entry and a snapshot month of December.
In SoPA, these are students studying for MSc degrees in Physics. The other categories include other subjects.
Due to small numbers in SoPA, we have aggregated the data over two year periods.
No HESA comparison data is included as HESA collects ethnicity data from UK domiciled students only.

Student ethnicity statistics: commentary

Undergraduate students

In 2021/22, about 17% of UK undergraduate students in SoPA are BAME, which is around the College average and higher than the University average in 2019/20.

The proportion of international undergraduate students that are BAME has increased steadily in the University and College. The proportion in SoPA is below the College and University average.

Postgraduate research students

For both UK and non-UK domiciled postgraduate research students, the fluctuations in the SoPA statistics are partially due to the limited numbers of students (about 50) that start PhDs in the School each year.

For the most recent two-year period (2020/21 to 2021/22), the proportion of UK postgraduate research students that are BAME is roughly in line with the HESA average and higher than the College average. For the same time period (2020/21 to 2021/22), the proportion of non-UK students that are BAME is roughly in line with the College and University average.

Taught postgraduate students

From 2016 to 2022, there is a slow upwards trend for CSE and for the University, with a slight increase in the percentage of BAME students over time for both UK and non-UK students. The number of MSc students in SoPA varies from year to year and this is reflected in the variation in the percentage of BAME students.

The overall proportion of non-UK taught postgraduate students in SoPA has increased since 2016 but is still below the College and University average.

Student gender statistics

For the following graphs, the HESA statistics are specifically for women in the UK studying Physics and/or Astronomy.

Gender: undergraduate students 

A graph showing the percentage of female undergraduate students studying physics at the University of Edinburgh.

Caption: Percentage of female UG entrants in SoPA across all Physics & Astronomy (P&A) degree programmes, compared with CSE, and the University as a whole. Higher Education Statistics Agency data (HESA) is for 1st year UG students from Physics and Astronomy degree programmes across all UK Higher Institutions.

Gender: postgraduate research students 

Caption: Percentage of postgraduate research students who are women by year of entry and a snapshot month of December. In SoPA these are PhD students. HESA are students studying Physics; the other categories include other subjects. Note that HESA data reflects the overall proportion of female Physics PhD students in the UK, rather than the proportion of new entrants each academic year.

Gender: taught postgraduate students

A graph showing the percentage of female postgraduate taught (MSc) students studying physics at the University of Edinburgh.

Caption: Percentage of postgraduate taught students who are women by year of entry and a snapshot month of December. In SoPA these are MSc students. HESA are students studying Physics; CSE and UoE categories include other subjects.

Student gender statistics: commentary

Undergraduate students

The proportion of women in our undergraduate intake (28%, 28%, 32% in the last three years) is consistently above the UK average of around 25%. In 2017/18, we saw a sharp rise from 23% to 39%. As we are not aware of more girls taking A-level or Higher physics, we suspect this may be as a result of efforts to make UG recruitment more “friendly”. The proportion of women studying Physics at A-level is around 21-23% (source).

Postgraduate research students

About one-quarter to one-third of PhD students in SoPA are women, which is in line with, or slightly above the national average. SoPA intake of female PGR students shows a general increase over time. Notably, we are attracting more female PhD students than the HESA benchmarking data for the last few years of available data.

Taught postgraduate students

The proportion of female taught postgraduate students in SoPA varies from year to year as the number of students studying for an MSc are small. In the last two years reported, the proportion of women students studying for an MSc is similar to the proportion of undergraduates.

Staff gender statistics

Staff distribution over academic grades

A graph showing the percentage of male and female academic staff at pay grades 7 to 10 in the School of Physics & Astronomy, averaged over 3-year periods.

Caption: Percentage of academic staff at each UoE paygrade, split by sex, averaged over three-year periods: UE07 (PDRA), UE08 (lecturer), UE09 (reader/senior lecturer), UE10 (professorial). The vertical axis is a measure of how likely it is that one is at a specific paygrade given that one is female or male. For example, the bar on the left means that, averaged over 2010-2013, 50% of female academic staff were at grade UE07. In 2020/21, the overall percentage of female academic staff across grades UE07 to 10 was 21.5%. Data has been aggregated into multiyear periods to improve small-number statistics.

Recruitment

A graph showing the percentage of female applicants to academic and professional services roles in the School of Physics & Astronomy.

Caption: Percentage of female applicants to SoPA vacancies, split by Academic and Professional Support Staff (PSS) job types. PSS staff include both Professional Services and Technical & Scientific Services staff.

Staff gender statistics: commentary

One way we are working to increase the number of female applicants is by advertising jobs on the WISE Campaign (Women Into Science and Engineering) website, as well as our own job site (MyCareerHub), and indeed.com. Job applicant feedback is provided if requested, regardless of whether the candidate attended an interview. We will monitor whether using WISE increases the number of female applicants.

Statistics for the University as a whole

The University of Edinburgh currently publish their own reports and research for equality and diversity monitoring. This information can be publicly accessed through their Equality and Diversity website. The information for the whole University population during 2017–2021 is available at the link below.

Equality Diversity Monitoring and Research Committee (EDMARC)

This article was last updated on .