Rising Number of Promotions Maintains Gender Equality in Germany
In 2024, a total of 212,400 individuals were pursuing doctoral studies across German universities, marking a 4% increase from the previous year. This surge in research-focused education was particularly notable at four universities: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Technische Universität München, University of Heidelberg, and RWTH Aachen.
These four universities accounted for a significant portion of the total doctoral students in German universities, with Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München having the highest number of doctorate students, at 9,700. Heidelberg University followed closely with 9,300 doctoral students, while RWTH Aachen and Technische Universität München each had 7,900 and 9,400 doctoral students respectively.
The fields with the highest number of doctoral candidates were Human Medicine and Health Sciences, with 60,300 candidates (28%), Mathematics and Natural Sciences, with 47,700 candidates (22%), Engineering, with 39,200 candidates (18%), and Law, Economics, and Social Sciences, with 33,300 candidates (16%).
The proportion of women pursuing a doctorate remained virtually unchanged at 49%, with distinct gender distributions across fields. For instance, 77% of those pursuing a doctorate in Engineering Sciences were men, while two-thirds of those in Art and Art History were women.
Approximately a quarter of those pursuing a doctorate (52,800) held foreign citizenship, with 27% of new doctoral entrants being international students. The average age for both men and women pursuing a doctorate was 31 years.
In 2024, 34,700 individuals began their first doctorate, which was an 8% increase from the previous year. This influx of new students contributed to the overall growth in doctoral candidates across German universities.
The surge in research-focused education at the four universities, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Technische Universität München, University of Heidelberg, and RWTH Aachen, is not limited to general-news; it also encompasses the realm of education-and-self-development, given the high number of doctoral students they accommodate. The fields with the highest number of doctoral candidates, such as Human Medicine and Health Sciences, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Engineering, Law, Economics, and Social Sciences, are making general-news, while also serving as globally relevant areas of study in the context of education-and-self-development.
