Tracking Access Measures

At the University of Newcastle, we are committed to advancing gender equity across all stages of the student journey. We use gender-disaggregated evidence to monitor women’s access to higher education, from applications and offers through to acceptances and enrolment.

In 2025, our Equity and Student Progression Dashboard tracked the proportions of women and men among applicants, recipients of offers, students accepting offers, enrolled students and course completers. The University uses these measures to examine access patterns over time and identify where further investigation or support may be valuable.

2025 gender-disaggregated access measures

The University’s 2025 dashboard figures show the percentage of people recorded as women and men at five stages of the student journey. For applications and admissions, the figures were:

2025 stage

Women

Men

Applications

63.81%

36.19%

Offers

62.86%

37.14%

Acceptances

61.40%

38.60%

Enrolments

57.71%

42.29%

Completions

59.64%

40.36%

Monitoring, reporting and equitable access

Key features of our monitoring approach in 2025 included:

  • Application Tracking: We monitored the proportion of female applicants across programs and faculties to identify patterns and potential gaps in access.
  • Offer and Acceptance Tracking: Gender-disaggregated data helped us compare the shares of offers and acceptances recorded for women, including in fields where women have historically been underrepresented.
  • Targeted Reporting: Reports were used to inform University decision-makers and support investigation of emerging access differences.
  • Alignment with Equity Objectives: The monitoring approach supports the University’s institutional commitment to equitable entry and participation.

The University’s 2025 Admissions Manual (approved by Academic Senate on 27 May 2025) requires the directors responsible for domestic and international future students to review admissions performance metrics, identify trends and report findings annually to Academic Senate. This provides a formal governance pathway for reviewing access outcomes.

Our Student Equity and Social Justice Framework establishes parity of participation as an institutional goal, while the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2023–2025 reinforces the use of evidence-informed measures to improve access and participation.

We continue to use these insights to refine our equity strategies and support inclusive access, including for women entering non-traditional fields. Regular, gender-disaggregated monitoring helps the University understand participation patterns and identify where access initiatives may be most useful.