Copyright Sociological Research Online

---

Table 3: Number of degrees in Sociology, 1980-1994

---

	First Degrees (not only Honours)	% women students, previous year		Higher Degrees	% women students, previous year
	Total			Total
1980	1326	[no data]		742	[no data]
1981	1355	64		783	54
1982	1305	67		800	55
1983	1273	68		828	56
1984	1205	67		776	56
1985	721	69		429	58
1986	681	66		380	53
1987	664	67		299	57
1988	622	69		372	52
1989	642	68		358	60
1990	664	69		326	53
1991	704	69		436	63
1992	765	69		421	57
1993*	827	68		489	61

---

Source, consecutive volumes of University Statistics (Students and Staff), Universities' Statistical Record.
* The sequence cannot be continued here, as the published statistics' format changed; although numbers graduating in 'Sociology' are still given, it is impossible to believe that the definition used is the same when the numbers nearly quintuple from one year to the next.

---

The official statistics provided have varied in form over the years. The major change was the move in 1979-80 from reporting numbers graduating each year, to giving instead the numbers studying for a degree in the year; this has made it necessary to divide the data into two tables. We get as near as possible to a consistent sequence by estimating the proportion of women graduates in a year from the numbers studying for a degree the year before. This is probably more accurate for first degrees than for higher ones, given the variable time taken to complete PhDs and the rates of non-completion. The figures for higher degrees unfortunately do not distinguish between MAs and PhDs before 1989.

The sharp drop in 1985 invites questions about the consistency of the figures. Some subject definitions used in them changed, but this did not obviously affect Sociology; HESA retains no relevant records. However, in the early '80s national student number targets were cut, and more of the cuts fell on arts and social science; for postgraduates, ESRC cut its expenditure on student grants sharply. Fortunately, for our purposes here alternative possible explanations do not affect the general argument.