Gender gap developing among graduates

Universities Minister David Willetts said females were now outshining their male counterparts, not just in school classrooms but in lecture halls and seminars too.

According to the latest figures, 50 per cent of women are graduating from university compared to only 40 per cent of men.

This has led some disgruntled women in their early 30s to complain they cannot find a potential husband with the right credentials and prospects, one newspaper reported yesterday.

Speaking to Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News, Mr Willetts said: “There is now a rather striking gap if we look at the statistics, where it looks as if approximately 50 per cent of women are graduating from university by the time they are 30 and perhaps about 40 per cent of men.

“We have got a gap in educational performance here that goes all the way through our schools and universities, and I want to see an improvement in educational opportunities for men and women because it does look as if the challenge we particularly face in our society at the moment is that the boys are lagging behind the girls.”